‘Bourne’ Reboot Is Moving Forward — Without Matt Damon

Back in September, Edward Berger told THR he was still on board to direct the next ‘Bourne’ movie.

“I will do it if Matt [Damon] wants to do it,” he said. “If we can really have the feeling that we are adding something new to the great Bourne films that were already. That will be necessary to make Matt want to do it, and to make me want to do it.”

Well, it turns out, apparently, that Matt Damon doesn’t want to do it after all — or maybe he just realized he’s “too old for this sh*t.”

A scoop was subtly added into the latest episode of The Hot Mic, courtesy of Jeff Sneider, and it revolves around a potential big announcement coming up about the next Jason Bourne movie, which will not have Damon returning to his famous spy role.

Back in March, Universal reacquired the rights to the Bourne franchise, with the goal of “reviving” the IP, possibly as a reboot. Last we heard, the latest draft of the script had been penned by Joe Barton (“Black Doves”).

Through five movies, the Bourne franchise has racked up $1.64 billion at the global box office. The first three — ‘Identity,’ ‘Supremacy,’ and ‘Ultimatum’ — were the best ones, while the last two were so lukewarm that they ended up deflating any kind of excitement or anticipation for a potential sixth instalment.

Bourne last appeared nearly a decade ago, in 2016’s “Jason Bourne,” which also marked the return of Greengrass to the franchise. Critical reception was cool on that one, but it still earned over $400 million at the global box office.

Who will replace Damon? It’s anybody’s guess, and Universal might have already found someone. The second-most popular spy franchise, after Bond, might actually be coming our way with a new instalment — possibly even before Villeneuve’s take on 007 hits the big screen.