Jason Bourne may continue his legacy in yet another sequel.
According to new reports, Universal is “in negotiations” to hire a director for a new Jason Bourne adventure. This would be sixth film in the franchise, after an original trilogy of films starring Matt Damon as Bourne, a spinoff set in the same universe without Damon, and then a fifth film that brought back Damon for one last adventure. Or, at least, it seemed like one last adventure at the time.
Now, per Deadline, Universal wants to get back in the Bourne business and is talking to Edward Berger, director of Netflix’s recent version of All Quiet on the Western Front, to helm the project. They claim the film is still in “early development” and that Berger has yet to sign on for the project. At this point, they add, Damon is not officially involved…
Matt Damon, who starred as Bourne in four of the five films, would be first approached to return in the iconic role once a script is finished. As always, everything has to be executed perfectly for Damon to even consider coming back to the franchise and that starts with a great script and story and so as of right now no commitment from him until all of that is in place.
READ MORE: The Worst Remakes in Movie History
While it seems absurd to make a Jason Bourne movie without Matt Damon, Universal has already done it once. Following The Bourne Ultimatum in 2007, they decided to continue the series with a new hero played by Jeremy Renner. This film, The Bourne Legacy, was set in the same world, and featured another super spy from Bourne’s shadowy organization, Treadstone. Although the movie did not get great reviews, it did still gross some $275 million worldwide. Universal did subsequently convince Damon and director Paul Greengrass to return for 2016’s Jason Bourne, which didn’t get great reviews either but did gross $415 million worldwide.
Based on the series of books by the late Robert Ludlum, the series started with 2002’s The Bourne Identity. In addition to the films, the franchise has spawned video games, a TV series (Treadstone), and even a theme park attraction, “The Bourne Stuntacular.”
The 10 Most Ridiculous Tropes In Action Movies
Good luck finding an action movie that doesn’t have at least a few of these stereotypes.