'Bourne 4' is On for Summer 2011

There are two sides to most movies, art and commerce. On the side of art, there's Matt Damon, claiming that he and Paul Greengrass won't head back to the world of Jason Bourne until they get a great script. On the side of commerce, there's the studio, Universal, and the producers, who clearly want this movie more than anyone because of the money the trilogy brought in. Right now, it's advantage commerce, as it often is. Last week, a new screenwriter was brought in to replace George Nolfi, who is busy with his directorial debut (also starring Damon). The fact that this move was made tells you Bourne 4 is actively on the front burner. Now comes this Tweet from producer Frank Marshall: "Bourne4 will be out summer 2011..." So deal with that. That gives us a little less than two years (The Bourne Ultimatum was the most successful of the series and was released in early August), and kind of crystalizes what kind of schedule we're looking at. There were stories when this fourth chapter was first being publicized that Bourne would head to South America, which makes sense narratively (because he's never been there) and aesthetically (because it provides Greengrass a new color palette). That talk centered around an early 2010 shoot, which fits both with the hiring of Josh Zemuter to develop the script and the summer 2011 target window. There is also the timing involved for the director and actor, who despite any wrestling match between art and commerce will absolutely be on board for whatever the immediate future holds for Jason Bourne, which should open up within the first quarter of next year. Do you see where all of this is headed?

Comments

[Alex]

is it going to be sort of a prequel to the first movie and show Bourne on one of his missions (presumably his first, not counting the masked man he shot when he joined the program) or now that he no longer suffers from amnesia he goes on to hunt someone else who was involved with Blackbrier (is that how the program was called?)?

[Get The Big Picture]

No, it's supposed to be post-memory recovery. He's still on the run, and apparently, enjoying Carnivale.

[Nelson]

ugh. why can't studios learn to just leave goodness alone! no more f-ing sequels!

[nick soapdish]

There are 7 or 8 of the books in the Bourne series. They should keep making them if they continue to be excellent movies, as they have all been so far. There are few trilogies I enjoy more than this one.

[Josh]

The Bourne series really tanked after Ludlum wasn't writing them anymore (at least in my opinion). My only disappointment with the Bourne movie trilogy was that they never explored his long standing rivalry with Carlos the Jackal. But that's just from me reading the books, the trilogy as it is is excellent.

[Ronan Conlon]

I enjoyed the Bourne Trilogy and I am looking forward to Bourne 4.They must stick to the formula of the first
three films that made them so successful.Matt Damon and Paul Greengrass and a good script are important for this film to match the last film.
I believe that the Bourne series of films are far superior and more realistic than the Bond series of films.
I look forward to seeing Bourne 4 in the cinema and adding it to my dvd collection.
I also look forward to getting the soundtrack to the film and I hope it as impressive as the first three

[Polprav]

Hello from Russia)