The Bourne Supremacy and Bourne Ultimatum Timeline Isn’t as Confusing as It Seems

Nothing is cooler than two films that are part of a series that take place in real-time, very close to one another, despite their releases being a few years apart. That’s precisely what The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Ultimatum did back in 2004 and 2007. Based on the Robert Ludlum novel of the same name, the success of 2002’s The Bourne Identity, staring Matt Damon in the title role as Jason Bourne, a man with amnesia who comes to realize that he is a deadly assassin, helped generate two sequels that have been dissected for how close in real time the plot lines are to one another. The reason why many find this timeline very perplexing is that the same scene appears in both Supremacy and Ultimatum. 

The Bourne and Landy Phone Call Scene

The scene that may have thrown both hardcore Bourne fans and fair-weather ones for a loop centers around when Bourne finds an ally in CIA Deputy Director Pamela Landy (Joan Allen). The first time we see this scene is at the end of The Bourne Supremacy. In the scene, Landy takes a call from Bourne, where she reveals his real name to be David Webb. Bourne then says to Landy, “Get some rest, Pam. You look tired.” Then we realize that he’s in a building close by watching her.

The Bourne Ultimatum Takes Place Six Weeks After The Bourne Supremacy

The Bourne Ultimatum was, at the time, supposed to be the big conclusion to the amnesiac assassin’s arc (that changed in the years to come). In the third film in the franchise, Bourne attempts to expose the wrongdoings of the Treadstone assassin program. 

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The timeframe between the two films is only six weeks. The final scene in Supremacy with Bourne and Landy is loosely repeated in the back half of Ultimatum, thus signifying some overlap between the two films, and meaning some plot points of Ultimatum may have happened off-screen in Supremacy. 

It’s easy to think that the final scene in the second film is indeed the last of that certain adventure; it is actually a flash forward to what would develop in the third act of the third installment. The scene that precedes it, where Bourne visits the daughter of one of his victims in Russia, helps paint the picture more clearly. The Bourne Ultimatum begins in Russia, prior to him heading back to the U.S. 

The Bourne Ultimatum may be bending time at first glance when it fits the scene into its plot, but it’s actually a tactic of great screenwriting. We never truly know the timeline of when Landy and Bourne’s conversation takes place until it hits us right in the face in the third film. See for yourself just how effective it is, as both films are streaming on Peacock.