Matt Damon and director Paul Greengrass were reported to be in talks to make another Jason Bourne movie a couple days ago, which raised the question - where does that leave the direct followup to the 2012 Bourne series installment, The Bourne Legacy (starring Jeremy Renner as chemically-enhanced ex-black ops agent Aaron Cross)?
Well, Bourne franchise producer Frank Marshall has now weighed in on the matter and confirmed that the Damon/Greengrass reunion, should it in fact happen, will be its own project apart from the Legacy followup. The latter, for those unaware, has director Justin Lin (Fast and the Furious 3-6) attached to call the shots - and, last we heard, a fresh script draft is begin put together by relative newcomer Andrew Baldwin.
Marshall, when he spoke to THR, insisted that a second Renner-headlined Bourne flick is still in active development and "We're working to get a script as soon as possible." The report from earlier this week indicated that the Damon/Greengrass project might serve as Bourne 5 - that is to say, the fifth installment released in the Bourne movie franchise overall - and as such, is being eyed to take the 2016 release date that was previously reserved for the Bourne Legacy sequel.
The Bourne film universe is indeed now "on two tracks," as Marshall told THR, but the producer also emphasized that "they're still just talking" with Damon and Greengrass - hence, the Bourne Legacy sequel hasn't started to slow the pace of its trek down the pipeline yet. It also got out recently that Greengrass is looking to direct a movie about the aftermath of the 1996 Olympics bombing - a drama that has Leonardo DiCaprio and Jonah Hill attached to star - which could have an impact on the filmmaker's plans to return to the Bourne property.
Bourne Legacy was, from an investment standpoint, a mixed success; it earned a decent critical reception and ended up grossing $276 million worldwide, but that was a significant drop-off from the $443 million global take for the last Damon/Greengrass Bourne film, Bourne Ultimatum (a movie that was also better reviewed in general). It did conclude on a note that setup for future adventures with Renner's Cross character - and expanded the Bourne film universe as intended - but again, not as well as many hoped it would.
That said, many of our readers have expressed interest in seeing Renner's Aaron Cross and Damon's Jason Bourne join forces at some point - question is, would yet another Jason Bourne solo vehicle (as seems to be the plan for Bourne 5) be the best way to build up to either such a crossover and/or the Bourne Legacy sequel? If Bourne 5 were to under-perform, after all, it could derail any plans Universal has for a Shared Bourne Cinematic Universe - and potentially leave Lin's Bourne project dead in the water, as a result.
What do you think is the best next move for the Bourne franchise? Feel free and let us know in the comments section of this article, as we've still got a ways to go before the next Bourne installment - be it Bourne 5 or the Bourne Legacy sequel - opens in theaters on July 15th, 2016.
Source: THR