Fans of the Jason Bourne franchise have been left wondering whether a potential return of Matt Damon‘s action hero is on the cards or not. There have been several conflicting rumors around the future of Bourne, and now director Edward Berger has renewed speculation about whether he will be helming a new entry in the franchise or not.
In August, it was confirmed that Robert Ludlum’s Bourne franchise would be remaining at NBCUniversal after they signed a new deal on the IP. However, that means they will need to get things moving on a new Bourne project relatively soon. While speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Berger explained what it would take for him to be part of that plan.
“A franchise can be original. If I had invented Oceans, I would have done it in a heartbeat. That’s a great franchise. And I’m in for developing a Bourne movie, and I will do it if Matt wants to do it. If we can really have the feeling that we are adding something new to the great Bourne films that were already. That will be necessary to make Matt want to do it, and to make me want to do it. I would love nothing more than to make a big-budget, expensive, fun movie that embraces the audience. But these movies are also hard to find because I still don’t want to make something that I feel other people have treaded 20 times.”
‘The Bourne Franchise’ Has Been Rumored to Be Returning for Some Time
Matt Damon in Jason Bourne.
Universal Pictures
Like any successful IP, there is always a rumor doing the rounds of new sequels, prequels, or spinoffs being in development. This has been no different for the Jason Bourne franchise. However, things seemed to come to a head when the rights to the franchise came up for grabs and Universal found themselves in a huge bidding war to keep a possible reboot on their slate.
Universal came out on top and reacquired all the rights to the characters created by Robert Ludlum, so that surely would mean that a new Bourne movie would be a top priority for the studio. Yet, a month later, and there is still very little actually happening. Obviously, these things do not happen overnight, but if Universal were willing to buy back the franchise, then they are clearly going to use it – the only question is when?
Back in February 2024, Damon himself spoke about the possibility of Berger being the next director of a Bourne movie, and also touched on his own potential return to the role that made him a huge action star over 20 years ago. He said at the time:
“There is a great director named Edward Berger. [‘All Quiet on the Western Front’] is a fantastic film, and he’s wonderful and he said he had an idea [for Bourne]. I would love to work with him, so he’s working on it. Look, I’m as anxious as you are to see if this thing [happens] — I hope it’s great and that we can do it.”
Will it happen? When will it happen? How long is a piece of string when it’s attached to an amnesiac assassin? Keep checking us on socials, and we will let you know as soon as we do.