Bruce Springsteen performs with the E Street Band during a concert in East Rutherford, New Jersey, September 19, 2012.

WILLIAMSBURG, Virginia | Sat Oct 13, 2012 10:55pm EDT

WILLIAMSBURG, Virginia (Reuters) - Republican Mitt Romney may have Clint Eastwood on his side, but President Barack Obama has Bruce Springsteen.

The rock star will perform at campaign rallies for the president in the battleground states of Ohio and Iowa on Thursday, the Obama campaign said.

His appearances come as the president's team is ramping up efforts to turn out supporters before the November 6 election. Obama and Romney are running neck and neck in national polls after the Republican's strong performance in their October 3 debate boosted his campaign.

"Iowans understand hard work, fairness and integrity, the same values that Bruce Springsteen, the president and vice president stand for," Obama campaign manager Jim Messina said in a statement. "Springsteen's appearances will be valuable in energizing supporters and getting out the vote effort in these important swing states."

The Obama campaign did not have details about the size of the venues in Ames, Iowa and the Parma, Ohio, area. Former President Bill Clinton will be at the event with Springsteen in Ohio. Both events are free and open to the public.

The Obama campaign often plays Springsteen songs at campaign stops, believing his working-class themes fit in well with the president's message. The New Jersey-born rocker also campaigned for Obama in 2008.

Eastwood, the Oscar-winning director and actor, made a surprise and somewhat bizarre appearance at the Republican National Convention when he used an empty stool as a prop to represent the Democratic incumbent.

DEBATE PREP

Obama is spending the weekend at a resort in Williamsburg, Virginia, where he is preparing for the next debate on Tuesday with Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts.

Senator John Kerry will reprise his role impersonating the Republican presidential candidate. Obama advisers David Axelrod, David Plouffe and others are working with the president to craft a sharper performance after his lackluster encounter with Romney at their first debate.

Virginia is a battleground state, and the president's choice of location for debate preparation not far from Washington was not an accident. As he did during his stay in Nevada before the first debate, Obama will likely make an unscheduled stop in the area to generate local press coverage during his stay.

Aides to the president have been reluctant to share details on how his debate preparation is structured.

A campaign official said he would spend the coming days practicing and studying material.

Vice President Joe Biden brought new vigor to the Obama campaign after his aggressive debate on Thursday against Romney's running mate, U.S. Representative Paul Ryan. But voters traditionally pay much closer attention to the candidates at the top of the ticket.

Obama is likely to follow up on issues from the vice presidential debate where his campaign believes Ryan showed signs of weakness, including taxes, women's right to abortion, and a time line for ending the war in Afghanistan.

(Editing by Peter Cooney)

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Universal's effort to reboot one of its marquee franchises takes center stage this weekend as The Bourne Legacy opens five years after the previous installment.

Jay Roach's R-rated comedy The Campaign and David Frankel's dramedy Hope Springs also enter the fray, but all three new titles will have to compete with the 2012 Summer Olympics, which heads into its homestretch culminating with Sunday's Closing Ceremony.

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Sony's Hope Springs, starring Meryl Streep, Tommy Lee Jones and Steve Carell, bowed Wednesday and is predicting a modest five-day opening in the $16 million to $17 million range.

Bourne Legacy -- featuring Jeremy Renner as new leading man Aaron Cross -- is widely expected to wrest the weekend crown from The Dark Knight Rises, which has dominated the box office for three consecutive weekends.

Along with Renner, other newcomers to the Bourne franchise include Rachel Weisz and Edward Norton; returning actors include Albert Finney, Joan Allen and David Strathairn.

Tracking suggests Bourne Legacy will open in the $40 million range, a solid number considering the departure of franchise star Matt Damon and director Paul Greengrass. This time it's Bourne scribe Tony Gilroy in the director's chair.

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Threequel The Bourne Ultimatum debuted to $69.3 million in August 2007, while sequel The Bourne Supremacy opened to $52.3 million in 2004. Franchise starter The Bourne Identity debuted to $27.1 million in 2002.

Gilroy, who also directed Duplicity and Michael Clayton, wrote or co-wrote the first three Bourne films and co-wrote Bourne Legacy with his brother Dan Gilroy.

Relativity Media partnered with Universal in financing the $125 million movie. Returning Bourne producers are Frank Marshall, Pat Crowley, Ben Smith and Jeffrey Weiner.

Bourne Legacy is opening in a number of foreign countries, many of them Asian markets.

Box-office observers expect Campaign, from Warner Bros., to open in the $22 million to $25 million range domestically.

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The pic, starring Will Ferrell and Zack Galifianakis and timed to the U.S. presidential and congressional elections, is incredibly raunchy and features two candidates vying to represent their North Carolina district on Capitol Hill.

Costing less than $60 million to produce, Campaign is showing good traction with moviegoers under age 35. Ferrell produced the pic with his partner Adam McKay, Galifianakis and Roach.

The comedy has a shot at beating fellow Warners title The Dark Knight Rises, which has grossed $367 million to date in North America, for the No. 2 spot at the domestic box office. 

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