'The Bourne Legacy' Minus The Bourne?

Speculation about what a fourth film in the Bourne series would look like has been ongoing since June when it was announced Tony Gilroy would be penning the new sequel.  Speculation like would Paul Greengrass come back to direct after openly leaving the project in February?  Would Matt Damon star after insisting he wouldn't do another Bourne film without Greengrass at the helm?  Would we be seeing a prequel or even a reboot?

Earlier this week we got a few answers as news broke that Gilroy would also be directing his script for The Bourne Legacy.  But what does that mean for Damon or his titular character?  The answer:  they don't need 'em.  At least not for this film anyway.

In an interview with Jeff Wells, Gilroy decided to clear up a few questions left open by the initial report.  The biggest note is that Jason Bourne won't be appearing in the new film, and in turn neither will Damon.

"It’s a completely original screenplay….This is not a reboot or a recast or a prequel. No one’s replacing Matt Damon. There will be a whole new hero, a whole new chapter…this is a stand-alone project.

The easiest way to think of it is an expansion or a reveal…Jason Bourne will not be in this film, but he’s very much alive. What happened in the first three films is the trigger for what happens. I’m building a legend and an environment and a wider conspiracy…the world we’re making enhances and advances and invites Jason Bourne’s return [down the road]."

So Legacy is neither a prequel nor a reboot, but a new chapter that won't contradict anything presented in the first three films rather build off of them.  Sounds like a pretty genius way to move the series forward with a new actor while still leaving the door open for Damon to return.

Putting the idea of a Bourne-less Bourne film aside for a moment, it'll be interesting to see how fans react to Gilroy's vision for the project.  While Gilroy was a key writer on the first three films, it was primarily Greengrass' frenetic direction and tightly choreographed fight sequences that gave us the best action films of the decade.  And with Gilroy's more cerebral approach to storytelling it seems like we'll be getting more espionage than action and a lot less shaky-cam.

So what do you think of a Bourne film without Greengrass or Damon?  And who would you like to see as the new hero, with the chance of that person playing off of Damon in a future film (come on Ben Affleck...)? 

Comments

[nicksoapdish]

Ben Affleck is NOT an action star. (see Daredevil)

[J.Bradley]

The thing is - the influence of the Bourne series is out there in so many movies. From this year's "Salt" to the way "The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo" and the following movies in that series, and others, all directly connect, even James Bond tried to adopt a bit of the Bourne style. So the Bourne LEGACY is out there in other movies. They can feign some kind of sense of "going against the grain" all they want, and not call it what it is, but this WILL BE a REBOOT, because that's the only thing it CAN BE in order to stand out from the influence it's had on action movies this past decade. There's other "super soldiers" like Bourne - the trilogy established that idea pretty well - so it'll go along some line of following some other soldier like him.

[LOSTY]

pretty sure the affleck comment is a joke so calm down