Last summer's The Bourne Legacy raised some interesting questions about the franchise. It was initially thought that the move may be an attempt to “freshen-up” the series and possibly hand it off to Jeremy Renner. Then there was talk of a Renner/Matt Damon team-up in Bourne 5. Both actors seemed open to the possibility in interviews, but Damon’s enthusiasm for the project seemed to have waned following Legacy’s release.
It seems that the introduction of Renner’s character and the pharmaceutical storyline have made integrating the two world’s a bit more complex in Damon’s mind. "I think it's going to make it harder for us to make another one,” he said in an interview with The Playlist. “I'm just trying to figure out like... Because they used our characters, anything that happens in that world, that's the Bourne world now. So the pill popping and all that stuff happens."
The Studio’s take on the possibilities for Bourne will likely be more informed by the financial considerations, though. Legacy grossed $276.1 million worldwide sans Damon, while The Bourne Ultimatum made $442,824,138 in worldwide box-office sales. So the question becomes: Would it be easier to move forward with a Bourne-less Bourne 5, or to find a way to entice Damon to reprise the role?
In a recent interview with THR, Adam Fogelson, chairman of Universal Pictures said, “The point of the last movie was to create a universe, a world and characters that give us a lot of freedom and flexibility in how we go forward. Yeah, the movie didn't perform the way the last one did. It also didn't cost what the last one did. It performed more along the lines of how the first one did. I absolutely see us doing more Bourne, 100 percent yes. Matt has talked about the possibility of coming back, and we totally respect that and are excited if and when he wants to have conversations. But I think the last movie gave us a big bunch of options to pursue a next chapter.”
If feels like the studio is weighing the possibilities of including Damon, who would likely want script approval, or moving on without him. What is also unclear at this point is whether Renner and/or Rachel Weisz will be a part of the aforementioned last chapter. The Bourne Legacy quite pointedly left room for their story to continue, but that may or may not be a door that Universal chooses to walk through. We spoke to Weisz recently while she was doing the press rounds for Sam Raimi’s upcoming Oz the Great and Powerful, and when we asked about her participation in the sequel the actress said she, "hadn't heard a peep out of anyone" and that "it's been completely silent.”
It will be interesting to see what avenue Universal ultimately chooses to pursue as far as Bourne is concerned. Conceivably, they could create another “spin-off” film with yet another test subject. In theory, that could go on for multiple films. If the studio does elect to go that route one has to wonder just how far the audience’s patience will stretch.
What would you like to see in the next Bourne film?
Source : feeds[dot]ign[dot]com
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