There have been four Bourne movies, the first three of which featured Matt Damon in the lead role, and the fourth movie did not have him as it was a sort of spinoff featuring Jeremy Renner.
After the fourth movie, “The Bourne Legacy,” starring Renner under-performed at the box office in 2012, the producers of the franchise decided to bring back Matt Damon in the fifth movie titled “Jason Bourne” which shall hit global cinemas at the end of this month.
The producers likely wanted to perk up the franchise again and bringing the original Jason Bourne actor was the foremost that came to their minds and rightfully so.
However, “Jason Bourne” could be the last outing for Matt Damon as the lead protagonist of the franchise as reports have it that the actor has already started discussing the prospect that the Jason Bourne role will be recast, reports Screen Rant.
Apparently, Matt Damon is just fine with the idea since he shall be able to give his version of Jason Bourne its final story the way he wanted it in “Jason Bourne.”
Taking down the CIA’s assassin program
In “Jason Bourne,” the character will have his final personal mission of taking down the assassin program of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), of which he is a product.
The program is called the Iron Hand and before he can get through his mission, the CIA was able to discover his plans.
The recent trailer of “Jason Bourne” gives a glimpse of the notion that Jason Bourne is not interested in picking a side in the modern world of cyber-warfare between the governments of the world and even those wishing to overthrow them.
Matt Damon is also reuniting with “Jason Bourne” co-writer and director Paul Greengass after their collaborations on “The Bourne Supremacy,” “The Bourne Ultimatum,” and their non-Bourne drama thriller “Green Zone.”
Reports also have it that the actor had a hand in the development of the script for “Jason Bourne” but Greengass and his long-time editor Christopher Rouse, are credited for the screenplay.
Also returning for “Jason Bourne” is Julie Stiles who shall be reprising her role as Nicky Parsons, Jason Bourne’s former government handler.
Prefers Bourne over Bond
Meanwhile, Matt Damon has recently stated that he would prefer to take on the role of Jason Bourne over the iconic James Bond character any day of the week.
It was merely a hypothetical question thrown at the actor considering that the James Bond franchise is currently in the selection process for the next actor who shall take on the role following the decision of Daniel Craig to move out late last year.
Of course, Damon is out of the running since he is an American and only actors born in the UK are being cast in the role of James Bond.
As it is, the reported frontrunners for the James Bond role are Tom Hiddleston, Theo James, and Aidan Turner.
There are reports saying that the selection is already down to Hiddleston and James but there are also reports saying that Aidan Turner has bagged the role of Agent 007.
In a recent interview, Tom Hiddleston said that he is very gratified with the enthusiasm of his supporters for the James Bond role. British actor Kit Harrington, who plays the popular role of Jon Snow, in the phenomenal HBO hit TV series “Game of Thrones” was also asked whether he would consider the James Bond role and he politely said no.
As for Matt Damon, he said in a recent interview that he likes Bourne better than Bond because the former has today’s values whereas Bond has the values of the 1960s, notes the Independent of UK.
He also said that whereas Jason Bourne is a serial monogamist and is tortured by the things he has done and feels empathy and compassion for other people, James Bond is not. He added that Bourne would obviously win in a hypothetical fight if ever there is to be one.
It is obvious though that Damon’s statements on Bourne versus Bond are only meant to hype and promote “Jason Bourne.”
In reference to the statement in this article”Of course, Damon is out of the running since he is an American and only actors born in the UK are being cast in the role of James Bond”. Of the six actors to play Bond two were not born in the UK George Lazenby was born in Goulburn, New South Wales, Australia and Pierce Brosnan was born in Drogheda, County Louth, Ireland.