With all the talk of a new James Bond film recently Universal Pictures is keeping steady with their own little spy saga as they prep to film The Bourne Ultimatum with Matt Damon back in the lead as the amnesia stricken Jason Bourne. MTV caught up with series producer Frank Marshall and he was open to saying that the third film might not be the last.
“It’s kinda up to Matt [Damon],” Marshall said regarding the life of the franchise, “maybe to five [films] … At some point, he’s gotta find out who he is.”
Shooting on the third film begin in August and Julia Stiles is back as the government agent Nicky, as is Paul Greengrass as the helmer with a Summer 2007 release planned.
Stiles managed to gain far more screentime in the sequel and there are even rumors of a Jason Bourne and Nicky romance. While that is far from confirmed Stiles does hope her trend of more face time continues in the third film as she told MTV, “I hope so, but things always change, so I’m going to knock on wood. I hope that I get to be in it more.”
Marshall had this to say on the matter, “Yes, she’ll be a central character in this… So will Joan Allen and some of the other characters from the last movie.”
The Bourne series is showing one common difficulty the upcoming Bond film just overcame as they need to cast two new villains for the next film. It is no secret that the films have not stuck to the original Robert Ludlum novels they are based on, but there have been hints of the prose on screen and the plot of Ultimatum is sure to deviate once again. All Marshall told MTV was, “It starts up where we left off in the last movie and moves forward with him trying to discover who he is.”
According to the producer, writers will be brought in to concoct storylines for life beyond “Ultimatum,” with Damon’s character discovering his true identity and resurrecting himself a few more times. “I think there’s hope for a couple more,” he said.
Marshall does expect casting to begin as soon as Greengrass finishes up with Flight 93 in April, so stay tuned as we may be hearing Bourne baddie news in a couple of months.
One thing is for sure, the Bourne series has already proved to be more intriguing than the Bond films simply due to the fact that they aren’t so tongue in cheek. Jason Bourne is a kick ass black ops agent with a ruthless aura about him and the more we get to see of him on screen the better. Matt Damon is a perfect Bourne, but it would be just as cool to see the character reinvented if Damon decides to abandon the role after three films.
