Maybe THE BOURNE LEGACY really did have a purpose.
Oh, we know it wasn't to entertain us, for, if that was the case, it failed miserably (as we are all well aware). But maybe it was to get both sides of the rift that made that movie even happen (Universal on one end, Matt Damon and Paul Greengrass on the other) remembering how fruitful their initial partnership was, so that they'd rush back into each other's arms and do it again.
Thanks, THE BOURNE LEGACY. You were good for something.
In a recent New York Times profile on the pending release of JASON BOURNE, the question is posed as to why Damon and Greengrass couldn't quit this series, even though it appeared they had. Damon and Greengrass had become a package deal where it was either both of them or none of them from here on out, and when things didn't seem to be coming together all that smoothly for BOURNE 4, they were out.
But that didn't mean Universal was willing to let sleeping dogs lie, as Donna Langley – chairwoman of Universal Pictures – explains…
"Even though Matt and Paul had been very definitive about not wanting to come back, we weren’t really willing to submit to that."
And who could blame the studio? THE BOURNE LEGACY just wasn't what they had hoped it might be, unable to carry the torch of the franchise forward, sans Damon's Jason Bourne.
But apparently absence truly does make the heart grow fonder and it was those feelings of being left behind and perhaps forgotten that got Damon thinking about a character he didn't think he'd miss.
"I thought I was completely at peace with the three movies, and I was so happy with how good they were and what the whole franchise had done for my career and my life. But when I saw their production offices, it hurt me in a way that surprised me."
He talked with Greengrass about getting back in. Universal backed up the money trucks, and they all lived happily ever after… that is, as long as Greengrass and Damon keep making Bourne movies and those movies keep making money for Universal. Per Langley, they don't want to potentially crash this gravy train again.
"Look, here’s what I think the goal is: to keep Matt Damon and Paul Greengrass doing Bourne movies till they can’t do them anymore."
Prepare yourself for THE BOURNE ELDER: I REALLY FORGOT WHO I AM coming to theaters sometime in 2056.
In the meantime, JASON BOURNE will be here on July 29.