The overall word coming out over the weekend from the widely attended junket for Matt Damon and Paul Greengrass' "Green Zone" seemed to be that the actor and the director had definitively said goodbye to the "Bourne" franchise. But when MTV News spoke with them, both men signaled that their involvement with the series has not completely ended: Damon held out the chance that he could return to "Bourne" territory and Greengrass is committed to assisting with the creation of a rebooted "Bourne" flick with another actor in the title role.
"We see a very clear way that they could go [with the story] that wouldn't interfere with the series that we have and that might give it a chance to have a life right now and if we come back and did another one, even after that without us," he said.
The "very clear way" seems to involve rebooting the franchise with a new actor, whose character takes on Bourne's literal identity — the name given to a uniquely positioned government operative. Handled with such a storytelling technique, the franchise could then easily welcome Damon — and Greengrass — back into the fold in the future.
Of course, it seems that Greengrass hasn't entirely left the fold at this point. The director has already offered his assistance to Universal in reworking "Bourne." "I just felt I need to go do different things, which is not unusual in franchises," he explained. "Studios understand that and Universal was incredibly understanding when I explained it. I said, 'If there's anything I can do to help, just give me a call.'"
"They're still figuring out what they're doing," Greengrass continued. "But I'm going to continue to make movies for Universal. I'm going to continue to make movies with Matt hopefully. They'll undoubtedly continue to make 'Bourne' movies. So it's all good news."
What do you think of this plan to have the "Bourne" franchise come to resemble the James Bond series? Do you like the idea?
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