Never say never again.
Matt Damon once said he'd never return to the role of assassin Jason Bourne unless Paul Greengrass came back to direct. Greengrass, who directed the last two films in the "Bourne" trilogy, said he had no interest in returning to the franchise, since Bourne regaining his memories in the final installment, 2007's "The Bourne Ultimatum," meant there was nowhere left to go with his story.
Well, it looks like you can choose your own metaphor for "Hell has frozen over" today, because both Damon and Greengrass are close to signing on for another entry. The currently untitled film would reunite the duo for a fourquel that Universal hopes to have in theaters on July 16, 2016. That will be almost a full decade after Jason Bourne was last seen on theater screens.
This is awesome — if stunning — news for Damon/Bourne fans. Happy time!
There's another wrinkle to the story, however. The July 16 release date that Greengrass' new film has been slotted for? Until now, it was intended for the sequel to Jeremy Renner's Aaron Cross spinoff, "The Bourne Legacy." That one, which was intended to start up a new franchise, was directed by Tony Gilroy, who wrote all three of the Damon films. (Still with me?) Justin Lin was set to helm the next Renner flick.
But rather than cancel the "Legacy" sequel, Deadline says that Universal is so eager to have a powerhouse franchise to call its own, the studio is actually going to do both. Renner's film is getting bumped to an unknown date to make room for Damon's return.
Is there room on the big screen for two memory-impaired assassins? Universal seems to think so. In fact, Deadline says that Universal wants to "broaden its franchise base," comparing it to Marvel's powerhouse franchise of various superheroes. Might this mean yet another "Bourne"-based assassin in Universal's future, even running concurrently with the Damon and Renner films? Could all these "bad guys amnesia-ed into good guys" team up someday in an "Avengers"-style epic??
Okay, probably not. But still, the Matt Damon and Paul Greengrass news is pretty huge. We're up for more Bourne adventures. How about you?
