Another new Jason Bourne movie appears to be in the works at Universal, with Oscar winner Edward Berger reportedly in talks to direct the new entry in the long-running action franchise.
Deadline reports that Berger is currently in negotiations to oversee the new entry, which is currently in early development and does not yet have a script. IGN has reached out to Universal for comment.
With it still being very early days yet, basically everything is up in the air around the new entry, including whether or not Matt Damon will star in it. Universal reportedly plans to approach Damon about appearing in the film, but that everything will have to be “executed perfectly for Damon to even consider coming back to the franchise.” As of right now, there’s reportedly no commitment one way or another.
The Jason Bourne franchise’s trajectory has been unclear since 2016’s Jason Bourne. The franchise’s producer reportedly wanted to “restart” the series back in 2020, and a series pilot was ordered by USA in 2018. It remains popular, with the 2016 movie debuting at the top of the box office.
The Bourne franchise made its debut with 2002’s The Bourne Identity, which earned more than $200 million worldwide while elevating Damon’s profile as an action star.
We wrote of the most recent film, “Jason Bourne has a passable plot and a couple of pulsating sequences, which already makes it better than the majority of action movies. But in the context of its predecessors, that isn’t good enough, the new movie never fully escaping the shadow of that previous trilogy, and making you question the wisdom of drawing Bourne back out of the shadows at all.”
Berger, meanwhile, found great success with All Quiet on the Western Front, which was lauded for its creative depiction of the horrors of war. Berger has reportedly been in high demand ever since, and would bring an intriguing new spin to the venerable Bourne franchise.
For more, check out our review of All Quiet on the Western Front, as well as our guide to watching all the Bourne movies in chronological order.
Kat Bailey is IGN’s News Director as well as co-host of Nintendo Voice Chat. Have a tip? Send her a DM at @the_katbot.