I just watched Bourne 1 and 2 a couple of days ago and I will watch 3 soon, I hope they start making this movie. Jason Bourne is awesome! Or should I say Matt Damon is awesome!
Back in April, producer Frank Marshall said that a fourth installment in the Jason Bourne franchise would hit theaters during the Summer of 2011 and that writer George Nolfi would have a draft ready by June (of 2009).
Now, Matt Damon has revealed to Entertainment Weekly that there is no script and no story, and the only thing keeping this project together is "hope."
"We're hoping to make a fourth, but we don't have a story and we don't have a script," he said. "I assume it can happen, but we have to come up with a storyline that's deserving. I mean, if you see the Bourne character come out again and say, 'I can't remember,' you're going to get up and leave the theater."
You better not be the culprit behind Bourne's Dilemma:
HE IS AFTER YOU, AND A NEW WRITER ON BOARD.
Quote:
A fourth film in the Jason Bourne series is still in active development, despite recent speculation otherwise. Last week Matt Damon told Entertainment Weekly that they don’t yet “have a story and we don’t have a script.” Universal has apparently moved on and hired another screenwriter Josh Zetumer to write what is being described as “a parallel script.”
But what happened to screenwriter George Nolfi, who was brought on to the project in October 2008? Did he not produce anything? Back in April, producer Frank Marshall said that Universal is hoping to have a fourth Bourne movie in theaters for Summer 2011, and that they would have a draft by June.
Nolfi was forced to depart from the project to ready The Adjustment Bureau, which goes into production next month. Universal hopes that Nolfi will return to Bourne 4 after Bureau wraps production, although it isn’t clear if the studio will go with one of the two stories or combine drafts.
As THR points out, while the practice is somewhat rare, studios have commissioned multiple parallel drafts for past films, usually tentpoles. Examples include Star Trek: Generations, Fantastic Four: The Rise of the Silver Surfer and Wolverine. Some people believe that one of the many reasons Wolverine was such a mess is that they were shooting pages from two completely different drafts of the project.
Josh Zetumer broke onto the scene in 2006 with a spec called Villain, which places in the top of the 2006 Black List (a list compiled by industry insiders of the top unproduced screenplays of the year). John Stockwell had become attached to direct. Zetumer also penned a remake of Dune for Peter Berg and The Infiltrator, a Leonardo DiCaprio vehicle based on a Atlantic Monthly article about British intelligence agency spies planted in the Irish Republican Army to monitor terrorist activities.
As for the story… Marshall has previously stated that he would like to see Bourne go to South America in his next adventure, which will be the first movie not based on a Robert Ludlum novel.
The fourth installment in the successful Bourne franchise has been in the works for a good while now, always edging ever-closer to actually happening, with every announcement that “the story is being worked on” and that they’re trying to “get it right.” We reported a few weeks ago that the next Bourne movie may be coming later rather than sooner, and last week star Matt Damon told Entertainment Weekly, “[We] have a story and we don’t have script.”
That doesn’t sound too promising…
However, it seems that things have picked up a bit on the Bourne 4 front as Universal has signed writer Josh Zetumer to pen what is being described as a, “parallel script.”
Zetumer hasn’t written any completed film so far, but has written the scripts for Villain (currently in production), Peter Berg’s Dune remake and The Infiltrator, a Warner Bros. project which has Leonardo DiCaprio attached to star.
George Nolfi was originally tapped to write Bourne 4, and was supposed to have produced a draft a couple of months ago. However Nolfi is currently writing and directing The Adjustment Bureau (also starring Damon, FYI), which starts production next month, so he had to step away from Bourne 4. It is hoped that once Nolfi’s finished with Bureau, he will make a return to Bourne, but still unclear whether Zetumer and Nolfi’s scripts will be integrated if Nolfi returns, or whether Universal just wants two different scripts to hold side-by-side in order to choose which direction they want to go in (it could be either one, really).
THR notes that although it’s rare, it’s not unheard of that two scripts will be written parallel to one another. It particularly happens with tentpole movies (I think Bourne could just about fit into that category), with notable examples being Wolverine, Fantastic Four: The Rise of the Silver Surfer, Star Trek: Generations and the upcoming Conan remake.
I think it’s good that Universal isn’t waiting around for Nolfi while he does another project before they get started with Bourne 4. But they also seem to want to take their time with the sequel, a excuse reason for the delay(s) which they’ve given on a number of occasions. The new writer they’ve brought on board can’t really be judged at this point in time, since none of what he’s written/is attached to write has actually been made yet. However, it’s certainly impressive for a newcomer to be attached to four sizeable projects.
I’m just wondering why they didn’t get Tony Gilroy - writer of the first three Bourne movies - to come back for this one. It seemed to work out pretty well for all involved…including the audience.
What do you think of the them getting a new writer for the next Bourne movie?
Bourne 4 is (clearly) still in the development stages, but has a hoped release of sometime in the summer of 2011.
Since 2007’s Bourne Ultimatum, fans of super spy Jason Bourne have been waiting patiently for the next installment of the critically acclaimed franchise. Unfortunately, for months, all we’ve gotten out of director Paul Greengrass and star Matt Damon is that the movie is “being worked on” and that they “have a story, but not a script.” Luckily, thanks to Steve Weintraub over at Collider, we have a little bit more information on the film that indicates the possibility of the movie moving along sooner than you think.
At a press conference for Damon’s new film, The Informant, Weintraub asked the Academy Award-winner about the project. I’ve excerpted some of Damon’s answers below. For the full interview, head over to Collider.
On the likelihood of filming Bourne 4:
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“We love the character and we would love to do another one…but we are really serious about trying to get the story and the script right because the only thing more disappointing than not having another one of these movies is, for us or for movie fans is would be to make one that isn’t good. Because everyone would say, “they should have quit after three”. And we’d feel that way too.”
On whether or not he’s read any of the scripts for Bourne 4:
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“Not yet…He [Paul Greengrass] hasn’t had a break literally since he did “The Bourne Supremacy” - which is six years ago now. [After his break] he said he’d come to New York and we’d sit down and we’d talk seriously about it.
As far as I’m concerned, Damon hit it right on the head. If the script is no good, there is no reason to produce an additional sequel that would only demean the franchise. That being said, it is good to see that there is still a definite interest on both of their parts to keep the franchise alive. Few films in the last 10 years have combined intelligent and creative storytelling with impressive action quite as successfully as the Bourne franchise.
In addition to the Bourne franchise, Damon and Greengrass recently worked together on the war film, The Green Zone. By the time that film comes out (March 12th, 2010), I’m sure we’ll have a much clearer picture on where Bourne 4 stands, as well as which one of the two parallel scripts they end up using.
What do you think? Are you eager to see Bourne back in action again?
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I about choked when I read that!
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