The last Bourne movie starred Jeremy Renner as Aaron Cross, but you knew it was still a Bourne movie because the characters talked about Bourne all the time like he was Bill Brassky. Not even Burnsy liked The Bourne Legacy, the fourth of the Bourne movies, and he’s usually a sucker for these talky, oatmeal-bland extended car chases.
If reports out of TwitchFilm are true (and they’re generally reliable), Universal must’ve felt the same, because they’re negotiating to bring Matt Damon back to the franchise.
We’re told Damon is only interested if Greengrass is directing so there are clearly a lot of moving parts here but if all comes together we could be seeing the return of the director and star of one of the strongest American action franchises of recent years.
And what, praytell, does this mean for Jeremy Renner and his Aaron Cross character? It’s not an either / or scenario between Renner and Bourne with Universal planning to continue with the Aaron Cross stream of Bourne films regardless of what happens on the Damon front, with potential crossover / merger of the character’s stories to be sorted out if and when Damon signs back up.
Oh joy, two separate streams of Bourne movies? This is like a dream come true. I haven’t been this excited since CSI moved to New Orleans or wherever.
It’s no coincidence that the word “franchise” also describes different McDonald’s locations. Not that Bourne movies and processed cheese don’t both have an important function. Namely, “something to consume when drunk, in the absence of better options.”