EW has a great piece with Matt Damon on ‘The Bourne’ franchise that’s really got an insightful recap on the series, plus the tumultuous making of the ‘Ultimatum.’ [EW]
Highlights:
– Doug Liman, the improbable director of the “The Bourne Identity” (he directed “Swingers” for crying out loud; a far cry from action) clashed with the studio so much, he wasn’t invited back for ‘Supremacy.’ “I think what happened ultimately is Doug’s process, which yielded them such great results in the end, was so frustrating for [the studio heads] because it was so chaotic,” Damon said. “If Doug has a drop-dead release date, he’ll ignore it just because he won’t compromise his creative process. I admire that. But he’s a suit’s nightmare,”
– ‘Ultimatum’ was shot without a complete script and its tortuously prolonged shoot went on for 140 days; longer than Damon had ever been on one film set. ”There was an aimlessness to the process,” Damon said. ”It was miserable.” The film didn’t completely wrap until just a few weeks before ‘Ultimatum’ was due in theaters.
– There were constant rewrites during the shoot and often times the crew, led by director Paul Greengrass, would find themselves shooting scenes that weren’t in any version of the script. “I did so many awful scenes that never made it into the film,” Damon said and noted, no, they won’t be on the DVD either.
– The whole movie was vague and Damon never knew at one time where his character’s headspace was at. “Paul’s only direction was ”Butch-er and more intense!” Finally I was like, ‘If you give me the f—ing ‘butch-er and more intense’ note one more time, I’m gonna kick your ass!’ “
– They realized Bourne scenes worked best when the character didn’t talk and cut many scenes of excessive dialogue.
– The actor that has really blown away Damon recently is Christian Bale.
– He almost starred in “Brokeback Mountain” with Gus Van Sant as director and Joaquin Phoenix as the other cowboy.
See you Monday when this thing is at the top of the box-office.