‘Bourne’ Again? Matt Damon Brings Us Another ‘Bourne’ Film (Video)

After seven years, it seems as though Matt Damon will revive the character Jason Bourne in a new Bourne feature film. The Hollywood Reporter says after a long time of Universal Pictures pushing for Matt Damon to bring back the Bourne franchise, it seems as though Matt is actually having serious conversations with Paul Greengrass.

Although the Bourne trilogy was written by Tony Gilroy and a handful of other writers, Greengrass reportedly will take the reigns and not only write the script, but direct as well. Greengrass is a great choice since he has already proven his chops in writing United 93, and actually directed the second and third Bourne films, The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Ultimatum.

The Verge reports that there have been four Bourne films between 2002 and 2012. Matt Damon was in the first three, but walked away from the character in 2007. The Bourne Legacy, the fourth Bourne film actually starred Jeremy Renner instead as a new character, Aaron Cross, a black ops agent.

Damon has said many times that he would consider reprising the role, but only if Paul Greengrass (who directed Captain Phillips) were the director, and also if he felt there was a good enough story to support it, according to CNBC.

“We’ve just never been able to come up with a story. So, if any of your viewers have a story, please call Universal and submit it.”

Damon tells Huffington Post that he and Greengrass really wanted to bring back Jason Bourne, but the two couldn’t figure out how to move forward with the character. And Matt says he was leery about committing to another Bourne movie because he was knew if he did, the studio would immediately set a release date, even without a script.

“That happened to us on the last one. We did not have a script and we had a release date. And that was just harrowing.”

Damon opens up to GQ about his complete displeasure with The Bourne Ultimatum script. Matt said the film “took years off his life” because Tony Gilroy’s script wasn’t even finished before they had to start filming.

The success of the first Bourne film, The Bourne Identity, brought Matt Damon to the status of an A-lister, who was able to command $20 million for the Bourne sequels. The Bourne franchise has been reported to have brought in over $1 billion worldwide, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

If the new Bourne movie actually becomes more than conversation and moves into the realm of production, the release date could be July 2016.

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