The Legacy Rises at the Box Office

It seemed like an impossible mission to stop The Dark Knight Rises topping the charts for a fourth week.

But spy thriller The Bourne Legacy managed to accomplish the feat thanks to a whopping $40.3m opening.

And it seems punters voted on their feet for Will Ferrell's latest movie The Campaign, as it sped past the superhero picture to take the second spot.

Jeremy Renner was doubtlessly shooting his pistols in the air when he learned The Bourne Legacy had topped the box office charts. Given the previous three Bourne movies have yielded almost $1 billion at the box office, the newest entry seemed a sure-fire winner.

However, capturing the box office crown is still an impressive accomplishment, as Legacy features neither the series' star Matt Damon, not the skills of director Paul Greengrass.

This is the first film in the franchise not to star Matt Damon... Instead, Universal cast Jeremy Renner as Aaron Cross, a member of a CIA black ops programme similar to the one Jason Bourne was involved in.

His character tries to escape assassination at the hands pursuers from the agency with the help of genetic scientist Marta Shearing, played by Rachel Weisz.

They are trying to kill him due to the fallout from the outcome of The Bourne Ultimatum.

Opening weekend sales beat studio projections for a $35m debut, and it is well on its way to paying off its $125m budget.

The Campaign did better than expected.

It sees a sleazy Democrat played by Will Ferrell facing off against Zack Galifianakis' dimwitted Republican in a race for U.S. Congress.

Warner Bros president of theatrical distribution Dan Fellman said the political comedy played especially well in Washington and Boston as the presidential race heats up.

He added: 'We think that the real campaign will add to our Campaign.'

See Bellow the Full Box office (via IMDB).

Rank		Title	Weekend	Gross	Weeks
1		The Bourne Legacy (2012)	$40.3M	$40.3M	1
2		The Campaign (2012)	$27.4M	$27.4M	1
3		The Dark Knight Rises (2012)	$19.5M	$390M	4
4		Hope Springs (2012)	$15.6M	$20.1M	1
5		Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days(2012)	$8.2M	$30.6M	2
6		Total Recall (2012)	$8.1M	$44.2M	2
7		Ice Age: Continental Drift (2012)	$6.75M	$144M	5
8		Ted (2012)	$3.29M	$210M	7
9		Step Up Revolution (2012)	$2.85M	$30.2M	3
10		The Watch (2012)	$2.2M	$31.4M	3