The Bourne Franchise Losses Paul Greengrass
Universal Pictures has acknowledged that Paul Greengrass has departed a fourth installment of “The Bourne Identity.”
Studio has issued this statement from the director:
Said Greengrass: "You won't find a more devoted supporter of the Bourne franchise than me. I will always be grateful to have been the caretaker to Jason Bourne over the course of The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Ultimatum. I'm very proud of those films and feel they express everything I most passionately believe about the possibility of making quality movies in the mainstream. My decision to not return a third time as director is simply about feeling the call for a different challenge. There's been no disagreement with Universal Pictures. The opportunity to work with the Bourne family again is a difficult thing to pass up, but we have discussed this together and they have been incredibly understanding and supportive. I've been lucky enough to have made four films for Universal, and our relationship continues. Jason Bourne existed before me and will continue, and I hope to remain involved in some capacity as the series moves on."
The exit of Greengrass is certainly a blow to Universal’s attempt to put together a fourth installment of one of the studio’s most important franchises, but it is not necessarily a fatal one.
Franchise-building is a difficult exercise, particularly here, when “Bourne 3” was intended to be the final installment. It did so much global business that the hit-hungry studio sparked to doing another. Universal's progress has been hamstrung by the fact that the creatives were otherwise engaged in directing other movies for the studio—each with Damon as the star.
For instance, Greengrass—who, like Damon, was never officially attached—has been consumed with “The Green Zone,” a big budget film that Universal releases in March.
The development process on “Bourne 4” began with a draft by George Nolfi—who did uncredited writing on the last scene of “Bourne 2” and who wrote “Bourne 3” with Tony Gilroy and Scott Z. Burns. But Nolfi left to make his directing debut on "The Adjustment Bureau,” a Nolfi scripted Damon vehicle which Universal acquired from MRC.
The studio then brought in Joshua Zetumer to write a parallel script, but the movie hasn’t yet taken shape, despite the best efforts of producer Frank Marshall, and Capitivate Entertainment’s Jeffrey Weiner and Ben Smith, who control the rights to the novels of the late Robert Ludlum.
Where does Universal go from here on “Bourne 4?” Two possible scenarios: if Damon is happy with the job that Nolfi did on “The Adjustment Bureau,” he might back Nolfi’s candidacy to return to “Bourne 4,” maybe as director.
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Source-Variety
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