After years spent dodging questions about whether Matt Damon and director Paul Greengrass would ever return to the Bourne franchise – and a soft reboot called The Bourne Legacy in which Jeremy Renner replaced Damon as the star of the franchise – reports have come in from Deadline that they are finally planning their return.
And what’s more, Universal Pictures is kicking Jeremy Renner to the curb.
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Bourne 5 is reportedly being developed for a July 16, 2016 release, the same date previously set aside for Jeremy Renner’s second outing as the superpowered, formerly mentally challenged spy Aaron Cross. Universal Pictures would not be planning to ditch the Bourne Legacy spin-off movies altogether, leaving the door open for Renner to return at a later date. Fast Five director Justin Lin was attached to director Jeremy Renner’s second outing, but the indefinite delay might free him to direct the second season of HBO’s “True Detective.”
The plot for Bourne 5 is pure speculation at this point, but if it continues in the tradition of the franchise, we expect it to overlap with the previous films in a manner that’s just confusing enough to seem brilliant, and be loaded with exciting action sequences that Paul Greengrass will cut up as much as possible, since that’s his schtick.
Universal Pictures has yet to officially confirm the Bourne 5 news, but Deadline is very confident about their reporting. CraveOnline will be back with more details as the story develops.
William Bibbiani is the editor of CraveOnline’s Film Channel and the host of The B-Movies Podcast and The Blue Movies Podcast. Follow him on Twitter at @WilliamBibbiani.
