The Bourne franchise is one of the most famous action-thriller franchises in the industry based on the character Jason Bourne who is portrayed by Matt Damon in the movies. It has now been over 2 decades since the first installment was released and the franchise has released 5 movies ever since then.
Although he was the face of the franchise, Matt Damon decided to leave the franchise after making the 3rd movie, The Bourne Ultimatum. The Last Duel actor once revealed in an interview that he allegedly decided to leave the franchise because Paul Greengrass had decided to step down as director of the movie.
As a result, Jeremy Renner was cast as the protagonist of the 4th movie of the franchise, The Bourne Legacy.
Matt Damon opened up about leaving the Bourne franchise
Paul Greengrass allegedly decided to step down as the director of the Bourne franchise after the release of the 3rd movie, The Bourne Ultimatum. Matt Damon once talked about Greengrass stepping down from the role of director of the franchise. He said,
“Paul’s got to go to work, you know? He’s ready to do another job, and it wasn’t the right job now. I get it. I wouldn’t do it without him but I don’t feel like he’s done with it totally. I think he’d change his mind if a good script came along. If there was a great Bourne idea, he would love to do it. It’s a big part of his life, too. We’re still going to keep working together — and hopefully on another Bourne movie too.”
Although Paul Greengrass eventually took up the position of director again in the 5th movie of the franchise, Jason Bourne, a 4th movie was made with neither Greengrass as the director nor Damon as the lead actor.
The Martian actor was skeptical about making a movie with Jeremy Renner
Matt Damon was skeptical of reprising his role as Jason Bourne in the franchise. After the release of The Bourne Ultimatum, Damon was once asked if would like to work with Jeremy Renner in a possible sequel. He said,
“I don’t know what that story would be. I love Jeremy and I’m a huge fan of him and I know him personally and love him outside of work, too. But I just don’t know what that story would be. I could never see Bourne teaming up with anyone. And all he said was – he wanted out, he wanted out, he wanted out. So how do you get that character going again?”
Although Matt Damon and Jeremy Renner did not work together in a Jason Bourne movie, Damon and Paul Greengrass eventually did return to the franchise back in 2016 when they made the final movie of the franchise, Jason Bourne.
All 5 movies of the Bourne franchise are currently streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
