Every Bourne Movie Failed To Break A Big Matt Damon Box Office Record Despite Making $1.6B

Despite raking in $1.6 billion worldwide (via The Numbers), no movie in the lucrative Bourne franchise has ever broken one particular box office record for Matt Damon. Since 2002’s The Bourne Identity, Damon has been the nucleus of the Bourne franchise, starring as the title character and CIA assassin Jason Bourne. Along with the pulpy espionage premise of Robert Ludlum’s novel trilogy to jump off from and cutting-edge shaky cam cinematography as its secret weapon, the Bourne franchise was equipped with the perfect recipe for success and blossomed into a series of five action thriller installments and counting.

In November of last year, confirmation of a sixth installment certified that the Bourne franchise was ready to expand its legacy and widen its pockets even further. Naturally, the long-awaited news sparked speculation of Damon’s return in the Bourne 6 movie – though he has yet to commit to what’s sure to be another crowd-pulling and profitable franchise endeavor. Granted, no matter how big the franchise is or becomes after Bourne 6, it, unfortunately, has never, nor will ever, beat one box office record for the actor that he has achieved time and again in other movies.

No Bourne Movie Ever Became Matt Damon’s Highest-Grossing Release

The Bourne Movies Were Big But Never Bigger Than Other Matt Damon Movies

Judging by the rule of thumb that argues that a movie needs to make twice the amount of its production budget to turn a profit, almost all the Bourne movies were not just profitable but significant film successes. Ultimately, however, none of the Bourne movies were ever big enough to become the highest-grossing release of Damon’s career. When the Bourne franchise started, Damon had already featured in the $481 million classic Saving Private Ryan, the mark to beat that the original three Bourne films and the rest of Damon’s movies up until the early 2010s failed to surpass.

By the time of Jason Bourne’s premiere in 2016, the box office bar was considerably higher. Damon had just starred in the renowned 2015 sci-fi adventure film The Martian, which eclipsed all his previous movies by earning $653.6 million worldwide. Similarly to every Bourne movie before it, Jason Bourne couldn’t transcend the highest-grossing film in the actor’s catalog. From the looks of Damon’s career currently, it’s doubtful that Bourne 6 or any future franchise installments will come anywhere close to securing that top spot.

Bourne 6 Has No Chance To Break Matt Damon’s Highest-Grossing Movie Record Now

Bourne 6 Would Have To Make Almost $1 Billion To Break Matt Damon’s Record

While the previous Bourne movies at least had a fighting chance at breaking Damon’s highest-grossing movie record, Bourne 6 won’t even have the opportunity to try its hand, since the actor took part in last year’s cinema sensation Oppenheimer. Oppenheimer now holds Damon’s highest-grossing movie record by a mile, pocketing a whopping $975.8 million at the box office worldwide. A single Bourne film has never obtained that big of a haul, and in fact, the franchise has only seen numbers like that as a composite of all its previous movies combined.

If Damon returns to the franchise in Bourne 6, there’s no way that the installment will break his box office record, yet the actor still has other incentives to come back. Damon has a slew of fans waiting for him to reprise his iconic role, and he could excitingly once again depict one of the most celebrated characters of his career. Further, the Bourne franchise still has several golden opportunities to break other box office records, including the likelihood that Bourne 6 will help make the franchise milestone of $2 billion earned worldwide.

Source: The Numbers