Matt Damon won't be beating up any bad guys in the new family-friendly dramedy We Bought a Zoo, but it's hard to forget Damon's action hero chops. As the face of the Bourne franchise, Damon helped the popular action trilogy bring in nearly one billion dollars at the box office worldwide.

So why, with all of the franchise's success, did Damon decide to step away from Bourne Legacy, the fourth entry in the series and how did Universal come to the decision to bring in a new character, played by Jeremy Renner?

As we reported last year, the new film will not be a reboot or direct sequel, but rather a new adventure featuring a different spy set within the established Bourne universe. Damon elaborated on the decision to start fresh and why he wanted to leave the role in a recent interview with GQ Magazine (via MSN).

Quoting the article:

"If you look at the first three movies, we kind of pounded that idea of identity and amnesia into the ground. We really got everything out of it that we could. So to reboot it, we need to come up with something completely new."

The Bourne series is one of the better action franchises to come out in recent years and part of the reason why is the trilogy's cohesive plot.  As Damon says though, there's really only so far you can go with the amnesia storyline. At a certain point, the shadowy CIA conspiracy angle would get a bit ridiculous.

In Hollywood, where most movie stars milk franchises well past their expiration date, it's actually nice to see an actor leave a franchise on a high note. Damon was great as a super spy, but it will be just as much fun to see how Tony Gilroy brings in a new character and further explore the world of Jason Bourne.

What do you think of Damon's comments? Could they have made another movie with the amnesia angle or is it a better idea to start fresh?

Source: GQ Magazine (via MSN)