Box Office: Bond Vs. Bourne Vs. Wick: Which Action Movie Series Is The Most Profitable?

Purely for education and entertainment, let’s rank the top six ongoing “real-world” action franchises (Bourne, James Bond, Fast & Furious, John Wick, Mission: Impossible and Gerard Butler’s Has Fallen movies) in terms of “rate of return” profitability.

In two developments that have little to do with each other, Tenet moved from July 17 to July 31, while No Time to Die moved from November 25 to November 20. So the Chris Nolan sci-fi actioner, which is presumably as much in-debt to the 007 series as Inception, The Dark Knight Rises and Batman Begins, moved into the spot occupied five years ago by Tom Cruise’s Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation, which arguably affirmed the franchise’s place as a commercial equal to the 007 series. The year’s actual James Bond movie moved to the pre-Thanksgiving slot occupied by GoldenEye, The World Is Not Enough, Die Another Day and Casino Royale (and one week closer to Marvel’s Black Widow, but I digress).

So, purely for my own interest and education, I looked the six biggest ongoing “real world” action franchises (sorry Matrix), Gerard Butler’s Has Fallen trilogy, Keanu Reeves’ John Wick series, Matt Damon’s Bourne flicks, the Fast and Furious films and the aforementioned James Bond and Ethan Hunt adventures to see, in modern times (1995-and-onward) which was the most profitable of the bunch. By profitable, I mean budget versus global gross rate-of-return, sans inflation, exchange rates or any other qualifiers of that nature. Without further ado…

The Mike Banning Adventures:

Three movies/$524 million worldwide gross/$170 million budget

Released as a one-off in early 2013, the ridiculously violent (and unapologetically xenophobic) Antoine Fuqua-directed action movie marked the unofficial comeback of the major-studio R-rated action movie after a near-decade long sabbatical. That’s just one reason why the Die Hard in the White House movie, one of two that year (alongside Roland Emmerich’s PG-13 White House Down) became a sleeper hit. The grungy, $70 million actioner, with a gruesome sensibility closer to the straight-to-VHS Die Hard knock-offs of the 1990’s than the genuine article, earned $98 million domestic and $173 million worldwide on a $70 million budget.

London Has Fallen, which ironically riffed on White House Down (in that our hero found himself on the run with the president as baddies gave chase), eared $62.5 million domestic and $205 million worldwide, including $55 million in China, on a mere $60 million budget. Last year’s Angel Has Fallen was a rare sequel to earn more than its respective predecessor domestically, earning $69 million domestic but $147 million worldwide (including $9.4 million in China). Albeit, since the (surprisingly good) actioner cost just $40 million, it’s expected that we’ll see a fourth go-around for this accidental franchise.

The three Has Fallen films have earned $524 million worldwide on a combined $170 million budget, for an average 3.08x rate of return. It’s an unusual franchise in that, in terms of budget-versus-gross, the first installment is the least profitable of the bunch. And even while Angel dropped 29% compared to London, the threequel cost 33% less. To be fair. Angel Has Fallen opened on December 31, 2019, just weeks before theaters shut down nationwide, although a $2.2 million Fri-Sun/$6.2 million Tues-Sun debut wasn’t exactly a sign of things to grand come.

The Jason Bourne Series:

Five movies/$1.666 billion worldwide gross/$490 million budget

The Matt Damon-led action franchise, with three out of five sequels helmed by Paul Greengrass, may be one of the more influential action franchises of the last 20 years, offering a grimmer, grounded and self-damning variation on the action spy thriller that arrived just in time to cash in our post-9/11 cynicism. Nonetheless, their comparatively “low” ranking on this list is more about the fact that the franchise peaked before movies of this nature began soaring to infinity and beyond overseas. The initial trilogy was an unmitigated domestic smash but earned over half their global grosses in North America.

Doug Liman’s The Bourne Identity earned strong reviews and good buzz, overcoming pre-release melodrama and rumors of on-set chaos. It grossed $121.5 million domestic while becoming the most-rented title among 2002 releases, but it “only” earned $214.4 million worldwide. That was terrific on a $60 million budget, and its sequel was a breakout sequel two years later. Paul Greengrass’s The Bourne Supremacy, which changed the action genre almost overnight with its anguished anti-hero and you-are-there claustrophobic quick-cut editing, earned $172 million domestic but “just” $311 million worldwide, again on a reasonable $75 million budget.

Greengrass’ The Bourne Ultimatum would earn $227.5 million domestic and $444 million worldwide on a $110 million budget in the summer of 2007, ending the trilogy on a commercial and critical high note. It wasn’t until The Bourne Legacy, a Jeremy Renner-led spin-off, that a Bourne film earned even double its domestic gross worldwide, although that’s more due to it slightly underperforming in North America ($113 million) than overperforming overseas ($280 million global). Still, $280 million on a $125 million budget was okay, especially in 2012 when Universal was desperate for franchises.

Matt Damon and Paul Greengrass returned in 2016 for Jason Bourne, which played like a modern PG-13 action tentpole, earning $169 million domestic and $416 million worldwide on a $120 million budget. The films had earned, on average 3.4x their respective budgets, although that goes up to 3.8x if you remove the spin-off. The most expensive film in the franchise was the “new actor, new character” spin-off. That said, the mere $120 million budget for Jason Bourne is what made its under-$420 million cume a lot more successful than the $144-$185 million likes of Independence Day: Resurgence, Ghostbusters and Star Trek Beyond that summer.

The John Wick Series:

Three movies/$585 million worldwide gross/$155 million budget.

I’ve written at length about the stunning movie-to-movie growth of Liongate’s action franchise, so I’ll merely repeat that the notion of a breakout sequel inspiring a breakout sequel on this level of growth for the second and third film is unheard of. The first film earned strong reviews and encouraging buzz, with Lionsgate selling the film as both a new action classic and a generational coronation for Keanu Reeves. The film earned $43 million domestic and $88 million worldwide on a $30 million budget, and it earned additional fans on DVD, VOD and cable.

John Wick: Chapter 2 was a true breakout sequel, opening with $30 million and legging out to $92 million domestic and $171 million worldwide on a $40 million budget. John Wick: Chapter 3 went into supernova, at least in North America, nabbing a $56 million opening toward a $171 million domestic and $326 million worldwide cume on a $75 million budget. Partially due to the R-rating and partially due to the smaller-scale, the series is still essentially 50/50 domestic/overseas, with the hopes that John Wick: Chapter 4 (now opening May 27, 2022) would kick the franchise into overdrive in terms of overseas/domestic splits.

It currently has a 3.77x rate-of-return. Spitball math alert, but if John Wick 4 goes the way of other action franchises on this list, the fourth installment could earn closer to 43/57 and still gross $171 million while topping $400 million worldwide on a theoretical $100 million budget. John Wick is not the most profitable of modern action franchises, but it is the one with the most room to grow outside of North America. I’m picturing an adventure that reunites Reeves with Halle Berry and sees him encountering Winona Ryder, Sandra Bullock and Carrie-Anne Moss in a Chinese-set adventure featuring Wu Jing.

The Modern James Bond Franchise:

Eight movies/$4.667 billion worldwide gross/$1.215 billion budget

It has been almost 25 years since Martin Campbell and Pierce Brosnan brought the 007 franchise roaring back to life after a six-year-sabbatical with GoldenEye. For the purposes of this discussion, I’m not going to compare Fast Five to Moonraker (the prior franchise highpoint which earned $211 million in 1979). Whether you love the self-aware Brosnan era, adore the self-apologetic Craig era or mourn for the days of Roger Moore’s wit or Connery’s unapologetic cruelty, the modern 007 franchise as we know it began with the one that earned $106 million domestic and $356 million worldwide on a $60 million budget.

Moreover, give or take small differentials between installments (Tomorrow Never Dies earned more domestic but less overseas than GoldenEye), the franchise has been rising steadily up, especially overseas, since 1995. Even in a world dominated by Batman, Die Hard and Lethal Weapon in the 1990’s, Harry Potter, Spider-Man and Transformers in the 2000’s and the MCU, the return of Star Wars and action franchises like Mission: Impossible and Fast & Furious, the James Bond series has maintained its hold on pop culture, partially by subtly (and sometimes not-so-subtly) adapting to the changing times and crafting films that are both answers to the culture and unquestionably James Bond movies.

Since 1995, the last eight 007 films have earned an average of 3.84x their respective budgets. That’s impressive as we’ve gone from the $60 million GoldenEye to the $140 million Die Another Day (the first to gross over $400 million global) to the $240 million spent on Spectre (which would earn $880 million worldwide). Save for Skyfall, which earned $304 million domestic, the North American earnings for the franchise have remained relatively steady (over/under $165 million) since at least 2002, but the overseas grosses have frankly exploded in comparison. GoldenEye earned $250 million overseas, while Spectre earned $680 million 19 years later.

The Mission: Impossible Series:

Six movies/$3.578 billion worldwide gross/$823 million budget

Mission: Impossible III, despite decent reviews, earned “just” $133 million domestic and $399 million worldwide on a $160 million budget, with Cruise getting so much from that disappointment that Paramount (temporarily) parted ways with their flagship actor. Otherwise, every Mission: Impossible movie released since 1996 has earned between $181 million and $220 million domestic. Yes, the first two would have around $350 million each in adjusted grosses), but the series has outright exploded overseas since Brad Bird’s Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol ($209 million domestic but $592 million worldwide on a $140 million budget). And it’s been an overseas powerhouse ever since.  

Brian DePalma’s Mission: Impossible earned $181 million domestic and $458 million global on an $80 million budget in 1996, while John Woo’s Mission: Impossible II (which began Cruise’s transformation from movie star to action hero) earned $215 million domestic and $549 million on a $125 million budget four years later. Christopher McQuarrie’s Rogue Nation would ride a wave of goodwill and strong reviews (plus a weak late July/early August slate) to a $195 million domestic/$688 million global take on a $150 million budget. And McQuarrie’s Fallout earned $220 million/$792 million, both a personal best for Cruise, on a $180 million budget.  

Thus far, that’s a rate of return of 4.34x. The plan is for McQuarrie to helm two more which will allegedly end the Ethan Hunt saga. M: I 7 will open November 19, 2021 (a year after No Time to Die) and M: I 8 will open November 4, 2022 (ten years after Skyfall). The franchise is as popular and acclaimed as it’s ever been, and it’s currently the longest-running “never rebooted and no sabbaticals” franchise. It’s possible (especially if those budgets stay closer to $175 million than $225 million) that one of these will pull a Skyfall before the end.

The Fast Saga:

Nine movies/$5.901 billion worldwide gross/$1.209 billion budget

Was there any real doubt? Universal’s accidental franchise created an accidental cinematic universe by virtue of Vin Diesel (mostly) not returning for the first two sequels, making 2 Fast 2 Furious and Tokyo Drift closer to spin-offs than sequels. So by the time Justin Lin’s (inexplicably fantastic) Fast Five rolled around, they had both the core stars (Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Jordana Brewster) and various supporting characters from the first three sequels all showing up to launch the franchise into A-level blockbuster territory. Like Mission: Impossible and the Craig 007 flicks, the franchise absolutely exploded overseas.

The Fast and the Furious would earn $144.5 million domestic and $206.5 million global on a $38 million budget in the summer of 2001. By 2011, Fast Five had earned $210 million domestic and $630 million global on a $125 million budget. But the not-so-secret weapon is that this comparatively inclusive action franchise, with John Singleton, Justin Lin, James Wan and F. Gary Grey helming the sequels, has become a juggernaut in China, with the last two films grossing $392 million each and even Hobbs & Shaw earning $200 million last summer.

Furious 7 earned $353 million in North America but $391 million in China for a $1.517 billion worldwide cume (just under The Avengers without 3-D). Fate of the Furious came down to Earth domestically ($226 million) yet earned another $392 million in China for a $1.239 billion cume. David Leitch’s Hobbs & Shaw spin-off, starring Dwayne Johnson, Jason Statham and Idris Elba, became the first non-MCU/DC Hollywood flick to top $200 million in China in over a year, earning $174 million domestic and $760.5 million worldwide on a $200 million budget. Yes, studios generally only get back 25% of the grosses from Chinese theaters, but money is money.

Until it was delayed, we all assumed that F9: The Fast Saga (moved from May 22, 2020 to April 2, 2021) would be the year’s biggest global grosser and possibly the year’s only $1 billion grosser. As of now, all ten Fast and Furious movies have averaged 4.88x their respective budgets. But if you remove the official spin-off, that’s 5.09x. Heck, if you deduct the official spin-off and the unofficial spin-off (franchise-low Tokyo Drift, which earned $185 million on an $85 million budget in 2006), you get a whopping 5.4x rate-of-return for seven moves.

Oh, and in case you’re asking, that 4.88x rate-of-return is higher than the respective Iron Man ($2.423 billion/$540 million), Captain America ($2.243 billion/$560 million) and Dark Knight trilogies ($2.459 billion/$580 million).