Matt Damon Open to Returning as Jason Bourne, But There’s One Big Problem
Matt Damon has played many great characters over the course of his career (most recently Odysseus in Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey), but even after all this time, his signature character is arguably Jason Bourne. Damon first portrayed the amnesic spy in 2002’s The Bourne Identity, a well-received box office hit that helped revolutionize action films in the 21st century and spawned a successful franchise. Damon has reprised the role three other times, last playing Bourne in 2016’s aptly titled Jason Bourne. A decade later, fans are still waiting to see when the next Bourne movie will come out. For his part, Damon is open to returning, as long as the creative team solves one major issue.
During an appearance on The Rich Eisen Show, Damon addressed his potential future as Jason Bourne, stating he’d be up for playing the character again. “There’s a great director named Ed Berger … he did All Quiet on the Western Front, he’s a wonderful director, and we’re talking about it. We’re trying to nail the story down,” he said. “I’d love to do it. It’s just that thing where if we do it, we want it to be like the first three … it’s tough … it’s not built like a James Bond where every movie is its own mission … it’s a linear story. It makes it more challenging to do a sequel where you’re giving people what they want, but also enough new stuff.”
Matt Damon Highlights the Biggest Problem With a Jason Bourne Return
As exciting as it would be to see Damon play Jason Bourne again, he makes an excellent point in his comments. The Bourne and Bond franchises are similar in the sense that they’re both espionage action series, but their approaches are wildly different. Bond has been an active film series for over 60 years because it isn’t as concerned with serialized continuity (up until the Daniel Craig era, anyway). Most Bond movies work as their own standalone titles, simply taking viewers on a thrilling adventure with 007. In contrast, the original Bourne trilogy was serialized, with the three installments working together to tell an overarching story about Jason Bourne. Things seemed to reach their natural conclusion in The Bourne Ultimatum, when Operation Blackbriar was exposed and Bourne closed the book on his past.
Making Bourne 6 all the more challenging is the fact that the band already tried getting back together and it didn’t fully work. Jason Bourne was a solid box office draw ($415.5 million worldwide against a $120 million budget), but it received mixed reviews (55% on Rotten Tomatoes), making it Damon’s low point in the franchise by far (the lowest-rated installment in the original trilogy is The Bourne Supremacy at 82%). It’s telling that Damon specifically mentions he’d want Bourne 6 to “be like the first three,” indicating he’s aware that Jason Bourne didn’t turn out as well as everyone hoped. One of the main critiques lobbied against that film was an underwhelming story that fell flat, a stark difference from the compelling drama that propelled the first three movies.
Perhaps the involvement of director Edward Berger could be a benefit here, providing a fresh perspective. After taking over for Doug Liman on The Bourne Supremacy, Paul Greengrass became synonymous with the Jason Bourne franchise, helming the last three entries Damon has starred in. His style proved to be a perfect fit for the series, but a case can be made that the franchise can use some new blood behind the scenes. A different set of eyes coming in and finding a new angle to tackle could revitalize Bourne, and Berger has demonstrated he’s a top-tier filmmaker, directing Best Picture nominees All Quiet on the Western Front and Conclave. He understands the importance of character and could crack an interesting narrative about Jason Bourne himself.
If Berger’s film with Damon falls about, Universal will surely find a way to pivot. Last year, the studio purchased the rights to the Bourne franchise, winning what was described as a “highly competitive” bidding war. Universal would not have shelled out that kind of money to just keep the IP on a shelf collecting dust. More recently, there were reports suggesting Damon’s The Odyssey co-star Zendaya could be in line to take over as the new lead. Granted, Universal has been here before as well. The Bourne Legacy was the first stab at making a Bourne movie sans Damon, and it too had a mixed reception. Of course, that doesn’t mean Zendaya’s reboot is doomed — it just highlights the difficulties of making a new Bourne film that’s worthwhile.
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