Welcome to the latest episode of The Fourth Wall – an interview podcast where I attempt to break down the fourth wall of the film industry, getting a behind the scenes look through my conversations with filmmakers, actors/actresses, and other industry professionals. Today I am joined by the producer of “The Bourne Legacy” and “Jason Bourne” and one of the showrunners of the new Bourne event series “Treadstone,” Ben Smith.
If you’ve been itching for more intense high octane Bourne action and good old fashioned espionage intrigue, “Treadstone’ just might be your fix. Making for the perfect blend of “24” meets “Heroes,” the series marks an almost decade long journey for Smith as he’s had his heart set on expanding the world that Robert Ludlum created.
Perhaps much of this influence comes from the involvement of “Heroes” creator Tim Kring, who Smith discussed collaborating with, and stunt coordinator from “The Bourne Ultimatum,” but at the heart of it, what excited Smith the most was the opportunity to explore the mythology of not only the films but Ludlum’s novels in order to tell very personal and interconnected stories that were affected by the geopolitical landscape of today. “The base that Ludlum created is very rich,” said Smith, “and I think it’s a perfect fit for television. You just have a lot more real estate to dive into a lot of different characters which is what we’ve done on ‘Treadstone.'”
For those unaware, “Treadstone” tells the origins of the secret government organization that led to the birth of Jason Bourne. Taking place in 1973 and present day, the series follows these sleeper agents from the Cicada Program (another program under the Treadstone umbrella) as they mysteriously begin to awaken around the globe ten years after audiences meet Jason Bourne in “The Bourne Identity.” The prospect of crossing over “Treadstone” with Matt Damon’s Jason Bourne or even Jeremy Renner’s Aaron Cross is certainly something that would excite fans of the franchise and even Smith himself, however, it all comes down to what the story requires.
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“What’s happening in the world of Bourne is independent of what’s happening right now in ‘Treadstone,'” said Smith. “There is crossover mythology, but there is no planned tie-in today.”
During my conversation with Smith, we discussed the long journey to creating “Treadstone,” balancing character storytelling with that signature Bourne action, the work that went into the stunt choreography, his relationship with Ludlum’s novels and the Bourne franchise as a whole, and actors he’d like to see play in the expansive Bourne sandbox.
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