Greengrass And Damon

Rebecca Winters Keegan has a nice write up about how Greengrass and Damon work together.

Advantage Bourne

One thing I like about the Bourne Trilogy -- Jason starts with his back against the wall but manages to turn the tables. In 'Supremacy' Jason calls Pamela Landy (Joan Allen) from the roof across the street from the office where Landy is coordinating the attempt to find him. He talks to Landy using a headset while keeping a bead on her with a sniper's rifle. He demands to meet with his former showrunner Nicky (Julia Stiles). Landy stalls for time asking, "What if I can't find her"? In what turned out to be the trailer's hook that made audiences want to see the movie Bourne answers, "It's easy. She's standing right next to you." Click. Landy and her crew look out the window, suddenly realizing Bourne has been watching them the whole time.

Above clip is from the new extended trailer for "The Bourne Ultimatum" and has a very similar moment. It's a bit more cerebral but it's got the cool factor to draw an audience. Maestro Paul Greengrass has another winner. And, how good does David Strathairn look?

A Fourth Bourne?

The trilogy of books written by Robert Ludlum which feature Jason Bourne has been made into some of the best thrillers of the genre: The Bourne Identity, Supremacy, and Ultimatum (currently in productatum) all starring Matt Damon as the down-to-earth spy who is constantly in peril. Anne Thompson ran into Ultimatum director Paul Greengrass who, among other things, says Bourne will survive Ultimatum to face bad guys in a fourth Bourne movie. So...Ludlum writes three Bourne novels but a fourth movie is tentatively good to go -- I had to check this out.

Sure enough there is not only a fourth Bourne novel but a fifth as well -- both written by thriller veteran Eric Van Lustbader (I've read his The Ninja -- it moves along with conviction [and according to Lustbader's website is being adapted for the screen by 20th Century Fox with a script due in months]). The next Bourne movie, should there be one, is The Bourne Legacy. The fifth novel, not yet finished, has a working title of The Bourne Trajectory (that will have to be changed for a movie, sorry).

As long as they can keep the quality of the material top-notch, I'm all for more Bourne stories. Bond may have been the thing way back when, but he's a bit superficial (as well a sexist in a backwards way) today -- Bourne has much broader appeal and audiences connect with Damon. Rock on Jason (and hope you work out that memory thing).