Way back in April it was reported that USA was developing a TV series set in the Jason Bourne universe entitled Treadstone. Now, according to The Hollywood Reporter, the project has been given a full series order with production set to begin in 2019.
A bit unusually, USA gave the green light before producing a pilot, which demonstrates the studio’s enthusiasm for the project.
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Treadstone explores the origin story and present-day actions of a CIA black ops program known as Treadstone, a covert operation that uses behavior modification protocol to turn its agents into nearly unstoppable superhuman assassins. Jason Bourne, the central character in Universal Pictures’ Bourne film franchise, was a product of the program. The series follows new sleeper agents across the globe as they’re mysteriously “awakened” to resume their deadly missions.
Heroes creator Tim Kring serves as the writer and executive producer. Ramin Bahrani will direct the pilot and also serve as an executive producer. Ben Smith and Jeffery Weiner will executive produce on behalf of Captivate. Justin Levy will executive produce alongside Bradley Thomas for Imperative Entertainment.
The Bourne series first exploded onto cinemas way back in 2002 with Doug Liman’s The Bourne Identity, starring Matt Damon as the titular Jason Bourne, a man suffering from amnesia who must put the pieces of his life back together while using his exceptional fighting skills to thwart a CIA conspiracy. The film was a huge hit that spawned three sequels, most recently 2016’s Jason Bourne, which, although not quite as well received as its predecessors, still grossed $415 million worldwide. A spinoff film titled The Bourne Legacy starring Jeremy Renner and directed by Tony Gilroy was released to middling reviews and average ticket sales in 2012.
