The BOURNE franchise is one of the most beloved and profitable in the action genre, and it turned Matt Damon into a bona fide megastar. However, had one conversation been taken further, and gone a different way, the whole series may have never happened according to BOURNE IDENTITY director Doug Liman.
The director was talking with Uproxx on the set of CHAOS WALKING and was talking about the possibility of killing Tom Cruise in future movies (he was killed dozens of times in EDGE OF TOMORROW). In doing so, he revealed that he and Damon had a discussion about killing Jason Bourne at the end of the first movie:
Matt Damon and I talked about killing Jason Bourne at the end of The Bourne Identity. We were like no one will see that coming! And obviously, we decided not to do that…But it wasn’t even about the sequel. It was just, would it be satisfying to the audience?
Clearly, killing him would’ve been a bad decision, as there are numerous books in the BOURNE novel series, and the movie franchise has gone on to make over $1.6 billion worldwide. The series is still going strong, with JASON BOURNE coming out last year and earning $415 million worldwide. That would’ve left Universal with a lot less money to fund FAST AND FURIOUS and DESPICABLE ME movies.
Chances are they were never serious about killing off Bourne, but they would be right in assuming the audience, and fans of the book series, would’ve been shocked by the ending. There would’ve been no way to know where the series would’ve gone, but I think everyone involved is happy that it didn’t go that far. We should all be grateful as well; we wouldn’t be able to make fun of shaky cam or have any other name to reference Matt Damon by when we’re trying to be snarky.
Doug Liman’s AMERICAN MADE is in theaters now.