Jeremy Renner’s action tale “The Bourne Legacy” took over as the No. 1 movie with a $40.3 million debut, according to studio estimates Sunday.

Jeremy Renner plays special agent Aaron Cross in the first Bourne movie without Matt Damon. But the film took less than the $69.3m debut for Damon's final Bourne outing.

Batman film The Dark Knight dropped to third place and Meryl Streep and Tommy Lee Jones' marital comedy Hope Springs opened at number four with $15.6m (£10m).

“Given that Jeremy Renner is just starting his career as an action hero, there is plenty of room for growth here,” says David Mumpower, analyst for a leading US tabloid.

The film opened in line with studio expectations and appealed primarily to males, who made up 52 percent of the audience, and those over the age of 30, who made up 69 percent of the audience.

Fans and critics were mixed on the movie, which featured multiple references to Jason Bourne but not a cameo by Damon. About 53 percent of critics gave it a thumbs-up, while 64 percent of audiences liked it, reports another leading US tabloid.

“I love the fact that we were able to re-boot this and do as well as we were able to,” said Nikki Rocco, Universal's head of distribution. “It leaves it open for us to think about it going forward. We are very much into what it's going to look like the next time.”