Damn, you’ll never believe us in 10,000 years, but this originated as a draft in January, 7, 2010 that we never published and eventually had to walk away from when the news seemed very up in the air.
And then it just seemed to fade away. And now it’s back. Tony Gilroy has been hired to write the treatment for what is now being called “The Bourne Legacy” according to Deadline, but their report is very unclear whether this is the “Bourne” reboot that Matt Damon and Paul Greengrass have discussed at length, or simply the fourth iteration in the series. Either way, Universal studios are pegging this one for a release sometime in 2012 (lots of development time, lots of time to lure Damon back).
We were told back in the beginning of the year that Gilroy was being approached to write and direct the next picture, so we won’t be surprised if he does get the directing gig having already directed the Academy-Award-nominated “Michael Clayton” and “Duplicity.” And before that, before “Bourne 4” was ankled but in trouble, “Ocean’s 13” writers Brian Koppelman and David Levien were approached about writing the script.
Gilroy is obviously our first choice. In December after Paul Greengrass walked, we wrote up five directors who we thought would be great candidates for the job and Gilroy was at the top of our list for what should be obvious reasons, he is the brains and heart of that franchise, even if Paul Greengrass got most of the glory.
We wrote, “he is the soul and conscience of [the character] Jason Bourne. He’s really the ideal person for the job (and as shallow as “Duplicity” was, its direction is still razor-sharp) and the main reason why the Bourne series connected with thousands of people and why the material elevated beyond a generic, spy film.”
Gilroy is also not surprisingly writing a “Bourne bible” for Universal, which will seemingly serve as a template for anyone who attempts to take on the ‘Bourne’ film next or years down the road. Clearly this signals that Universal want to keep this franchise alive for years to come.
Again, Gilroy’s dissatisfaction with what other directors (Doug Liman, Greengrass) did to his ‘Bourne’ script is legendary (read it all here), but as we said, “if Gilroy can get over himself and both parties could come to Jesus, this could be the perfect match. The one problem is… Damon. They don’t necessarily have as strong as a relationship as the others and in the Gilroy vs. Greengrass silent war, you can guess which side the loyal actor took.”
Still, as much as Damon wasn’t reportedly a big fan of Gilroy, he still could potentially be lured back to the franchise… maybe. Incidentally, producer Frank Marshall tweeted about this almost at the exact time Deadline reported the news. “The keeper of the Bourne flame, is back with us to write the treatment for #4, THE BOURNE LEGACY,” he wrote. Indeed.
And 2012? That’s by design as Damon may need a hit by then. “Green Zone” was a total bomb, “The Adjustment Bureau” will have problems this September at the box-office (mark our words), Eastwood’s “Hereafter” doesn’t scream mega-hit and the Coen Brothers’ “True Grit” will only have box-office appeal if it becomes an Oscar hit around its December 2010 release (and as “The Hurt Locker” showed, winning an Oscar doesn’t necessarily translate into a massive revenue stream).
Last but not least, Finke speculate that Gilroy coming back could lure Greengrass back into the fold too. While we did note that Greengrass could come back one day, when we first broke the story that he had left the project, the Gilroy/Greengrass relationship was infamously toxic. As we wrote when we chose the writer as our top choice, “[Gilroy] was paid a king’s ransom to write “Bourne Ultimatum” under the condition that he would never have to speak to Greengrass, pen only one draft, get paid, and wash his hands of the entire affair.” He was that vexed with his Greengrass experience on “Bourne Supremacy.”
Time does heal all wounds, but Gilroy has been very candid and vocally honest about his dislike for everything that was done on ‘Bourne,’ directing-wise.
