Ever since the word came that the Jeremy Renner led sequel to THE BOURNE LEGACY was being pushed to accomodate Matt Damon and Paul Greengrass‘ return for BOURNE 5, the internet has been abuzz with the potential cross-over of these two super-spies. No one had firmly ruled it out as a possibility. Until now, that is.
Producer Frank Marshall was asked about whether or not we should get excited about seeing Aaron Cross and Jason Bourne facing off after each of their upcoming sequels. The answer is not reassuring.
We don’t have plans for that. You never know. I never say never. But that’s not the plan. They’re on separate tracks.
Marshall may be playing his cards close to avoid the rumor mill from exploding, but I would expect that they plan to grow both series independently. That is assuming they don’t use BOURNE 5 as a closing chapter for Matt Damon‘s character. After three films, Renner was designated as Damon’s successor in the series. The fact that Greengrass and Damon are coming back appears to be a big push from the studio to try and keep the series alive. Renner was pretty good in THE BOURNE LEGACY, but I would be willing to wager BOURNE 5 will make a lot more money.
The studio must know pairing the two would be a smash at the box office, so I would go with Marshall’s comment that you never know what could come next.
BOURNE 5 is slated for July 29, 2016 with the Renner sequel coming in 2017 at the earliest.