Jason Bourne Franchise Producer Looking for New Filmmaker and Story

Frank Marshall, producer on the five-movie Jason Bourne franchise, is actively looking for a new filmmaker and story to revitalize the blockbuster series that starred Matt Damon. Inspired by the works of novelist Robert Ludlum, Universal Pictures launched a franchise with Doug Liman-directed action-thriller The Bourne Identity in 2002. Two direct sequels, The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Ultimatum, followed in 2004 and 2007, respectively, under director Paul Greengrass, who returned to the franchise with 2016’s Jason Bourne. Universal Pictures earlier attempted a spinoff without Damon, 2012’s Jeremy Renner-starring The Bourne Legacy, helmed by Bourne trilogy screenwriter Tony Gilroy.

“I do like the Bourne series, and I do think that’s an opportunity for different filmmakers to come in now,” Marshall told Collider. “So, I’m hoping that we can find a new story for Bourne and a new filmmaker. We are looking.”

Marshall didn’t say if Damon might return for a fifth Bourne or if the prospective sixth movie would continue the world the way Legacy focused on operative Aaron Cross (Renner).

After Jason Bourne earned $415 million, some $30 million less than 2007’s Ultimatum, Damon speculated audiences might be “done” with the character, but said he was open to re-teaming with Marshall on another film if it works out a “good story.”

“It would have to be a pretty incredible story to get us all back on the horse. This last one didn’t do as well as the one we did 10 years ago, so maybe people are done with the character,” Damon told The Toronto Sun in 2017, adding, “We all love working together and those movies are a lot of fun to make so we sure would be happy to do it. If we can figure out a good story.”

On reuniting Damon and Greengrass, Marshall told the Sun, “I think everybody is leaving the door open, as we did at the end of this movie, in hopes that we can come up with an intriguing story for the next one.”

NBCUniversal-owned Universal Content Productions produced a spinoff television series set in the espionage world of Bourne and revolving around the clandestine CIA program that transformed U.S. Service members, including Damon’s Bourne, into highly-trained assassins. Before the series that aired on USA Network was cancelled after one 10-episode season, Treadstone executive producer Ben Smith said in an October 2019 interview that another film is “definitely” being worked on and would expand on the “connected tissue” of the television show.