The Bourne series built an action star out of Matt Damon…which seems like a no-brainer now, but back when THE BOURNE IDENTITY came out, that casting choice was a bit of a head-scratcher. In any case, the series tried to carry on without Damon and that just didn't quite work. This time around, we have both Damon and director Paul Greengrass back, so expectations are up there for this next installment. Variety recently spoke with Damon and he was open to divulge some details about the flick, as well as where a major set piece was taking place.
Matt Damon on BOURNE 5:
We’re, like, probably about halfway through. We started in September but they’re going dark for most of December and cutting basically the first two acts. And then we have the third act and then whatever we owe from the first two acts.
[You’ll] find the character — like THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM, the third act actually in the movie dovetails with the third act of THE BOURNE SUPREMACY. So technically when the Bourne character disappears, it’s still 2004. So when this next one comes out in ’16, it will have been 12 years — in movie years — that the character as been off the grid. So what’s happened in those intervening years gives you a story.
We were in Tenerife, which is supposed to be Athens. It would be like a nighttime riot scene to kind of start the movie. And then England, Berlin a little bit for about a week, and a little bit in D.C. Then we’re going to Vegas for the third act. Big car chase on the strip.
I actually found THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM to be running a little low on gas, as far as Jason Bourne's backstory goes, but that doesn't mean I'm not down for another thriller with the character in tow. Both Damon and Greengrass have plenty of other projects they could work on, but I really dig the fact that they love this character and wanted to make sure they had a story to tell with this next flick. Here's hoping it lives up!
BOURNE 5 is scheduled to hit theaters on July 29, 2016.