The other day we heard about the all the possible young actors lined up to fill Matt Damon’s shoes in the new Bourne movie, THE BOURNE LEGACY. Then I realized that wasn’t happening at all, that this is actually an entirely new character just operating in the Bourne universe. Uh what the hell?
Ill-conceived as the idea may be, it’s attracting a lot of young talent to the project. The list so far is sprawling and includes Jake Gyllenhaal, Tobey Maguire, Garrett Hedlund, Taylor Kitsch, Kellan Lutz, Joel Edgerton, Josh Hartnett, Paul Dano, Michael Pitt, Oscar Isaac, Michael Fassbender, Luke Evans, Alex Pettyfer, and Benjamin Walker.
But now What’s Playing says that there’s another actor in the mix, young Shia LaBeouf who I guess is looking for his next big franchise after TRANSFORMERS wraps. He’s proved very adept at running away from things in nearly all of his films, but making him an action star?
I’m not so anti-LaBeouf where I claim the kid doesn’t have the potential for a big future in the industry, but I don’t think Bourne Replacement is exactly in his wheelhouse.
Out of that entire list, there are a few wonky picks in there. Paul Dano, really? Is Josh Hartnett still acting? Is Michael Fassbender younger than Matt Damon? (yes, but still). This whole project just seems like a strange idea to me, and it would be far stranger if LaBeouf got the part.