Now that the much-awaited film "The Bourne Legacy" is released in cinemas, reports are claiming that it has already taken the number one spot at the US Box Office list that pushes down the reigning film "The Dark Knight Rises" away from the throne.

According to studio reports, the action film "The Bourne Legacy" that stars Jeremy Renner as the lead male character Aaron Cross is currently the No. 1 movie with a $US40.3 million ($A38.3 million) debut.

Meanwhile, Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis' political comedy movie "The Campaign" opened at No. 2 with $US27.4 million and "The Dark Knight Rises" film is now pushed down to the No. 3 spot.

"The Dark Knight Rises" has been on the number one movie for three straight weeks now since its debut and the tragedy that happened as a gunman killed 12 people and 58 more were wounded at the midnight screening of the film in Aurora, Colorado. However, the violence seems to have had little effect on the success of the epic Batman finale.

"The opening weekend in our business is very important, and this incident took place before the picture officially opened. It took place at a midnight screening. I can't give you an actual number, but I'm sure we were affected on that opening," said Dan Fellman, the head of distribution for Warner Bros. that released the film.

Meanwhile, Universal's "The Bourne Legacy" stars Jeremy Renner and Rachel Weisz in an offshoot film of the three Bourne franchise hits that starred Matt Damon as the unstoppable operative named Jason Bourne. Renner portrays an agent that is pursued by Bourne's old spy masters after they try to shutdown the espionage program in a cover-up conspiracy.

"The Bourne Legacy" movie came in well behind the $US69.3 million debut of Matt Damon's last entry in 2007's "The Bourne Ultimatum" and the new film had a strong start as it establishes Jeremy Renner as a sturdy lead character to keep the franchise running.

Even though Matt Damon is absent on "The Bourne Legacy," his presence is still felt throughout as characters mention Jason Bourne's sightings and his former handlers are still stressed out over the fact that the rogue agent is still out there.

Actor Jeremy Renner is a definitely a bankable star to carry on solo but Universal might really spend a lot of cash if the studio managed to get Matt Damon back and portray Jason Bourne once again.

"The dream-team scenario of a 'Bourne' with both Damon and Renner would just be irresistible. That would be cool. I'd be first in line for that," said Paul Dergarabedian, a box-office analyst for Hollywood.com. There is no doubt that movie aficionados will be thrilled to watch an action packed film that stars the two talented actors as agents of the CIA with enhanced physical and mental abilities.

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