There are few franchises out there right now that I love as unequivocally and without exception as theBournefranchise that Universal has been keeping alive since the early aughts. Though the films lack the stylistic oomph of something like the similarly estimableMission Impossiblefranchise, each film is staggeringly engrossing, kinetic, and totally exhilarating from beginning to end. That goes as much forDoug Liman’sThe Bourne IdentityasTony Gilroy’s oft-derided, actually pretty stellarThe Bourne Legacy,and word from a few sources says that the upcomingJason Bourne, which once again pairsMatt Damonwith directorPaul Greengrass, is just as good. Keep on making these films until the lights go out, as far as I’m concerned on that matter.
And, well, that seems to be Universal Pictures planned for their beloved action-flick series. According toThe Playlist, Universal chairwomanDonna Langleyrecently commented that the ultimate goal for Universal is to keep making Jason Bourne movies with Greengrass and Damon until neither of them can do it anymore. And Damon, speaking to the New York Times, commented that its hard to turn down a chance to do a movie that so many people love, especially after doing several movies that people, on the whole, didn’t like.
As long as the movies don’t bog down Greengrass and Damon from doing other interesting projects, such asThe Informant!orCaptain Phillips, I can’t say I see any issue with this. I’d certainly be more inclined to keep paying money to see Damon as his super spy than to see the notoriously hit-and-miss James Bond franchise continue on, though I know that Bond will continue on until I’m down in the cold, cold ground. But if Damon can keep on taking on audacious films likeAlexander Payne’s upcomingDownsizing, and Greengrass can keep on making in-the-moment action opuses likeGreen Zoneor the aforementionedCaptain Phillips, Jason Bourne could similarly continue on, breaking all the necks on an international scale.
Here’s exactly what Langley had to say about the Bourne movies:
“Even though Matt and Paul had been very definitive about not wanting to come back, we weren’t really willing to submit to that…Look, here’s what I think the goal is: to keep Matt Damon and Paul Greengrass doing Bourne movies till they can’t do them anymore.”
Here’s what Damon had to say about the subject:
“At a certain point, I said to Paul, ‘People really want to see this movie, and that’s not something to turn our noses up at…Having made movies that didn’t find an audience, I didn’t want to thumb our nose at this opportunity."
“It’s this weird thing where you may’t give them exactly the same thing, or they’ll be resentful…But you have to give them enough of something they recognize that they feel like they’re getting what they paid for.”
