HOLLYWOOD, July 13 (UPI) -- Major brands such as Volkswagen, MasterCard and Symantec are expected to pump more than $40 million to promote Hollywood's latest Jason Bourne spy thriller.
That amount of cash gives "The Bourne Ultimatum" -- the Matt Damon vehicle based on author Robert Ludlum's character -- the kind of marketing the popular James Bond-like franchise enjoyed for years, Variety reported Friday.
The film debuts Aug. 3.
The series' previous movies, "The Bourne Identity" and "The Bourne Supremacy," did not have promotional partners.
For campaigns being launched worldwide Sunday, VW alone will spend some $25 million to promote its redesigned Touareg 2 in the United States and its Golf model in Europe.
MasterCard, one of Universal's longtime corporate partners, will leverage its network of banks and merchants to promote the film to millions of cardholders.
Symantec will promote its Norton identity theft products -- ironic since Bourne tries to figure out his own identity.
