Matt Damon has been insistent about his hesitation to reprise the role of Jason Bourne; however, as he recently revealed in an interview, it won’t be for lack of trying, as both he and Paul Greengrass have attempted to figure out where the story could possibly go.
The duo isn’t alone, either, as Damon also revealed that he even went so far as to pick “Dark Knight” scribe Jonathan Nolan’s brain. Citing he and brother Christopher Nolan’s “brilliant job” with the Batman mythology, Damon claims he enlisted Jonathan to “put [his] brain on Bourne” in an attempt to figure out what he and Greengrass haven’t been able to crack during the past few years.
Anyone expecting this mini-collaboration to bear any fruit is likely to be disappointed, though, as Damon says that even Nolan couldn’t figure it out either. This would seemingly represent another nail in the coffin as far as Jason Bourne’s return goes.
In a rare instance of an actor absolutely needing a good excuse to revive a beloved character, Damon insists that he won’t just inhabit the Bourne role for any old sequel. While he loves the character would “love to do” another movie in order to satisfy the fan base, he and Greengrass also want the movie to be good enough to “belong” with the previous trio of films.
“Until we can deliver that, we just can’t make it,” he says, echoing comments he made earlier this year when he doubted he’d ever reprise the role.
Of course, Universal doesn’t share Damon’s sentiments, as it went ahead and produced a spin-off/sequel this year with “The Bourne Legacy,” which focused on another government agent, Aaron Cross (Jeremy Renner), whose connection with his predecessor was strong enough to warrant everyone dropping Bourne’s name frequently enough to remind you that “Legacy” was, in fact, a Bourne movie.
For now, though, don’t expect the real deal to come back, as neither Damon or Greengrass seem to interested unless they crack a story that’s worth telling.
