Box office rankings were frozen in time this weekend as the top three films remained unchanged for a third straight frame. Once again, top honors went to The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2, closely followed by Skyfall.  Spielberg’s Lincoln claimed third. There were also two new releases, though neither hailed from a major studio. The Weinstein Co.’s Killing Them Softly had the most promise, but not even Brad Pitt’s presence could push the drama to $10 million on this notoriously low-grossing weekend.

Yesterday it looked like Universal’s The Bourne Legacy might get as high as $45 million by the end of its first weekend. That was not to be; although the re-born Bourne did open to a very respectable $40.2 million from 3,745 locations. Also falling in the ‘respectable’ range with $27.4 million was The Campaign, starring Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis. The comedy did well enough from 3,204 locations to keep The Dark Knight Rises in third.

Considering the 2012 election cycle is currently in full swing, I feel compelled to lend my endorsement to a truly worthy candidate: The Campaign. As someone who unashamedly enjoys a majority of Will Ferrell‘s manchild cinematic escapades, I expected to like the pic. That said, I’m now putting The Campaign just behind Anchorman, Step Brothers, and Elf in my personal “Ferrell Top 4″: something I didn’t expect to be writing the day after seeing it. Sure, the film borrows a ton from Talladega Nights and Ferrell’s take on President Bush. It also manages to combine relevance, irreverence, and humor in a way many mainstream comedies can only promise and ultimately fail to deliver on.

Political endorsements aside, this week’s Top 5 contains a considerable share of The Bourne Legacy coverage, Joss Whedon returning to write/direct The Avengers 2, The Campaign interviews with Will Ferrell, Zach Galifianakis, and more, the first trailer and new poster for the Red Dawn remake, and the news that some of Bane’s backstory was left on The Dark Knight Rises‘ cutting room floor. A brief recap and link to each awaits after the jump.

The Bourne franchise is at a crossroads. Does the success of each movie depend on Matt Damon, or can Universal turn Bourne into Bond, an evergreen series that rotates in fresh blood every few movies? To explore that question, I tried to capture how the series has evolved over the last decade with Bourne by the Numbers. The feature provides a numbers-based snapshot of each movie and its place in the filmography by looking at the box office, critical reception, and miscellaneous facts.

Hit the jump for a comprehensive review of the Bourne movies, featuring The Bourne Identity, The Bourne Supremacy, The Bourne Ultimatum, and The Bourne Legacy.

Opening tomorrow is writer/director Tony Gilroy’s The Bourne Legacy.  For those unfamiliar with the franchise reboot, this time around, a government task force led by Edward Norton‘s character is assassinating all their genetically-modified assets to prevent another Bourne situation.  However, one member of the program, Aaron Cross (Jeremy Renner), manages to escape with a scientist (Rachel Weisz), and the two go on the run for their lives.  The film also stars Oscar Isaac, Joan Allen, David Strathairn, Albert Finney, Stacy Keach, Scott Glenn, Corey Stoll, and Donna Murphy.  For more on the film, here are five clips.

During the recent Los Angeles press day, I did an exclusive interview with producer Patrick Crowley.  If you’re a fan of the Bourne films and want to hear some great behind the scenes stories about all four movies, you’re in the right place.  During our extended conversation we talked about the making of Bourne Legacy, did they ever consider 3D, Easter Eggs, test screenings, will future Bourne movies have Bourne in the title, coming up with new and exciting action scenes, deleted scenes, reshoots,  and so much more.  Hit the jump for what he had to say.

[With The Bourne Legacy set to open this Friday, we'll be taking a look back at the original Bourne trilogy.  These reviews will contain spoilers since the movies have been out for years.  Click here for my review of The Bourne Identity and click here for my review of The Bourne Supremacy.]

In 2004, the post-9/11 American had begun to take shape and The Bourne Supremacy reflected that change.  It provided a conscious subtext, but the movie remained first and foremost an action-thriller.  But by 2007, the change in our country was no longer worthy of a simple observation.  The change had produced a feeling, and that feeling was anger.  We had been misled into a war, and the government was taking extraordinary powers against Americans in the name of protecting Americans.  The Bourne Ultimatum is unapologetically political, which is its greatest weakness and its greatest strength.  Director Paul Greengrass still delivers a pulse-pounding blockbuster that retains the same intensity of Supremacy, but he pushes audiences to not only recognize the seismic shift in our country, but to confront our complicity in it.

After driving off with $33.2 million on Friday, a record debut for April, Universal’s Fast Five went on to an incredible weekend estimate of $83.6 million from 3,644 locations.  And, as on Friday, that was also good enough to break all kinds of records.

Sometimes a director’s worth isn’t measured by how turns a strong script into a brilliant picture, but by how he makes an entertaining movie out of nothing.  By that measure, Green Zone director Paul Greengrass is one of the best filmmakers working today.  His latest film is like the next chapter in the Bourne franchise but without interesting characters or a thoughtful narrative.  Matt Damon plays a rogue soldier looking for the truth about WMD in Iraq.  The film doesn’t embrace the absurdity of how the Iraq War began or the disgusting cost in blood and treasure that resulted.  What it does embrace is so much energy that you’ll be too electrified to notice how much you’re missing.

As we reported yesterday, director Paul Greengrass has will not direct the highly-anticipated fourth installment of the Bourne franchise .  Greengrass issued to following statement [via BFDMemo]:

You won’t find a more devoted supporter of the Bourne franchise than me. I will always be grateful to have been the caretaker to Jason Bourne over the course of The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Ultimatum. I’m very proud of those films and feel they express everything I most passionately believe about the possibility of making quality movies in the mainstream. My decision to not return a third time as director is simply about feeling the call for a different challenge. There’s been no disagreement with Universal Pictures. The opportunity to work with the Bourne family again is a difficult thing to pass up, but we have discussed this together and they have been incredibly understanding and supportive. I’ve been lucky enough to have made four films for Universal, and our relationship continues. Jason Bourne existed before me and will continue, and I hope to remain involved in some capacity as the series moves on.

Now whether you think that’s just a long-winded way of saying “creative differences” or that Greengrass is making sure not to burn a bridge or if this is the straight dope, the truth still remains that whenever we see the 4^th Jason Bourne movie, it won’t have Paul Greengrass as its director.  Now the question becomes if Greengrass’ departure means Matt Damon, whose loyalty lies with his director, will still return.