In my review of The Odyssey, I noted that Matt Damon looked as if he had gotten back into Jason Bourne fighting shape. Perhaps it was for more than just Christopher Nolan’s epic, because according to Damon while on The Rich Eisen Show, a new Bourne film with director Edward Berger is not as stalled as it seemed just months ago. In fact, he seems quite confident…
“I’m talking to—there’s a great director named Ed Berger. He did ‘All Quiet on the Western Front.’ He’s a wonderful director, and we’re talking about it. We’re just trying to figure out—we’re trying to nail the story down. Because I’d love to do it.”
All along, the delay has been about Damon wanting to find the right story to continue the spy franchise. He reiterated that it must live up to the original three movies, and says he can see light at the end of tunnel…
“If we do it, we want it to be like the first three. It’s not built like a James Bond, where every movie is its own mission…Well, I hope we can crack it. I think we have a line of sight on how to do it.”
The most recent film was 2016’s Jason Bourne, the fifth in the franchise and fourth starring Damon. It was a solid effort and made over $400M worldwide, but it definitely wasn’t up to par compared to the earliest movies. Overall, the franchise has made over $1.6B, so there’s reason for Universal to want to keep it alive. If anybody can revive it, Berger, whose track record is stellar with All Quiet On the Western Front, Conclave, and The Ballad of a Small Player, is the director to do it.
