JASON BOURNE’s Next Adventure Might Not Be What You Expect
By Movieguide® Contributor
The JASON BOURNE franchise just left Universal, so that means rights will go to the highest bidder.
Bourne author Robert Ludlam’s estate recently met with potential buyers: Skydance, Apple and Netflix, and it’s possible Universal might try to buy the rights back.
Ludlum introduced Bourne in 1980 through his book, The Bourne Identity. Twenty-two years later, the movie of the same name came out, starring Matt Damon. THE BOURNE ULTIMATITUM, which came out in 2007, was the highest-grossing of the five BOURNE movies with nearly $443 million worldwide. Universal tried to bring BOURNE back in 2023 and hired CONCLAVE director Edward Berger, but the project didn’t kick off.
If the rights are bought, a new set of Bourne movies or a series would likely follow. It’s unclear if Damon will still be a part of the new franchise.
Another spy franchise, JAMES BOND, was just acquired by Amazon this year.
The first Bourne movie, THE BOURNE IDENTITY, while thrilling, is “ultra-violent eye candy” for movie watchers. Movieguide®’s review reads:
Matt Damon plays Jason Bourne, a man trained by the CIA to be a killing machine. When Bourne gets amnesia from an assignment, CIA officials decide that he’s gotten out of control, so they try to kill him…THE BOURNE IDENTITY is a slick looking movie. The direction and camera work are notable. The fight scenes are thrilling. But, the story is very obscure, which may be the point.
RELATED: JASON BOURNE VIDEO REVIEW
The last entry in the franchise, JASON BOURNE, came out nine years ago. Movieguide®’s review of the movie says:
JASON BOURNE is a fast-paced, exciting and nearly perfectly executed thriller (one sequence seems a little repetitive). It has a light moral worldview about finding out the truth and stopping a corrupt CIA official. It also includes some nuanced debate about balancing civil liberties with the need for security. JASON BOURNE has a lot of intense action violence, including assassinations. It also has a few strong profanities and other lighter foul language.
Movieguide®’s THE BOURNE SUPREMACY review cites language, light sex, nudity and Bourne’s killing sprees, noting that not all people the spy kills are bad. “Media-wise families should ask just what kind of a hero is Jason Bourne.” It asks, “Do they want him to be a role model for their children?”
READ NEXT: THE BOURNE SUPREMACY REVIEW