How do you continue the Jason Bourne franchise without Jason Bourne? If you're Tony Gilroy, the writer/director behind "The Bourne Legacy" as well as the screenwriter who has been deeply involved in the Matt Damon-starring trilogy of films, you throw out any and all expectations. "What if there's a much larger story? What if Treadstone wasn't the only black-ops programme?" he told Empire. "I had never spent one moment thinking about how to do a sequel to 'Bourne Ultimatum.' I first came in for two weeks just to spitball. I had a very random idea…so we started with that and it got more and more exciting. All of a sudden I was staring at something that had a great deal of resonance and was soulful and uncynical and was also gonna kick ass. So that was good."
That's an understatement. Judging by trailers so far, no one is going to be asking about Matt Damon once the credits roll on 'Legacy,' a film which is still loosely tied to the narrative that unfolds in 'Ultimatum' but spins off into it's own standalone tale, with Jeremy Renner leading the way as Aaron Cross. And as Renner notes, there is one key but crucial distinction between Cross and Bourne. "He knows exactly who he is; he signed up to this…He wants to be part of a team. I can tell you he was in the military then he joined the programme. He's a person who wants to be part of something… to have a sense of purpose. But then it's taken away," he says.
That's a pretty nifty little twist on the (for lack of a better word) formula and should add a different dimension to the action flick. And it's how Gilroy has opened up the world of 'Bourne' that is most tantalizing, no less to Frank Marshall, a producer on all the movies to date, who hopes for a mega-pairing the next time out. "You see there are several different programmes in the movie with different skill sets. All possibilities are open. My dream is that in the next one we see Matt and Jeremy team up," he shares.
While we won't hold our breath for that happen, it's something to think about for sure, but as of right now our sights are set on Renner and "The Bourne Legacy" which now hits on August 10th.