Dec 4 2009 03:53 PM ET

Matt Damon on 'Bourne 4': 'I wouldn't do it without Paul Greengrass'

Categories: Film, News

Matt Damon is still optimistic that Bourne 4 will happen. But the actor, who’s starring in the upcoming Invictus for Clint Eastwood, made it very clear that he wouldn’t do the movie without director Paul Greengrass. (Greengrass, who directed both Bourne Supremacy and Bourne Ultimatum, dropped out of the fourth film which did not yet have a greenlight last week.) “I feel like someday it’s going to happen,” Damon said at the premiere of Invictus on Thursday night (that film bows Dec. 11). “We just don’t have a script right now and so there’s no reason to try to put a round peg into a square hole. People like the franchise, including us, but the only reason to do another one is if we can make it great.”

He adds, “Paul’s got to go to work, you know? He’s ready to do another job, and it wasn’t the right job now. I get it. I wouldn’t do it without him but I don’t feel like he’s done with it totally. I think he’d change his mind if a good script came along. If there was a great Bourne idea, he would love to do it. It’s a big part of his life, too. We’re still going to keep working together — and hopefully on another Bourne movie too.” (Greengrass and Damon also worked together on Green Zone, which is due out in March 2010).

Josh Zetumer, the young screenwriter who did a last minute polish on Quantum of Solace and is the writer behind the upcoming adaptation of Dune, is currently in the middle of writing a script for Bourne 4. It’s a parallel effort to the work George Nolfi did on the film but Nolfi exited the project to direct Damon in The Adjustment Bureau, which he will wrap in New York next week. — Reporting by Carrie Bell

Photo Credit: Jordan Strauss/WireImage.com

Comments (1-30) of 39 Add your comment

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  • graeme

    Oh thank god. Thanks for saying that, Matt. Stand your ground. Don’t screw up the Bourne series.

    • A.J. Simon

      The Bourne series is terrible – just a bunch of name dropping – Milan! Paris! London! and no actual interesting plot – just one long drawn out boring one about his amnesia – I’ll admit the second movie was pretty good, but the rest were snooze-fests and the shaky camera angle is LAME

      • Zach

        There’s a difference between not being smart enough to follow the plot and there actually not being a plot FYI.

      • Lars

        Thanks AJ for calling out the craptastic shaky camera angles. Just shaking a camera around does not create real action or suspense, and way too many directors employ this over-used technique.

      • erin

        haha Zach; right on.

      • derf

        Affleck!

    • Matt1

      Why has nobody mentioned Doug Liman who directed the first (and still best) Bourne movie!!?? I’d love to see him take another shot at it!

      • R. Jones

        D.Liman is said to be impossibly difficult and arduous to work with. Hundreds of takes, insecure, perfectionist, obsessive. The final product is usually polished, but at the expense of much sanity. This is what keeps people from hiring him – the sanity committment.

      • Ben Affleck

        DOUG LIMAN is the director of the first and best film in the franchise. Lets start the campaign now . . . draft Doug Liman for BOURNE 4

    • ks

      Once you get past the fact that the movies DO NOT follow the books, it is a fun ride-Kuddos to Matt for keeping true to the new Jason Bourne :)

      • Patrick

        They should bring in carlos the jackal as a story line. That would be a good way to give a nod to the books since the movies strayed so far away from them.

  • Buffy Freak

    Greengrass is as important to the Bourne franchise as Damon is. His directing style make these flicks a cut above the standard spy fare.

  • Dhppy

    I’m not sure I see the big deal about Greengrass. I didn’t like how he handled the blurry fight scenes in Supremacy where I couldn’t distinguish who was who.

  • Zach

    Good news! i dont wanna see another Bourne film unless Greengrass is directing. Doug Liman is the only acceptable alternative, but I’d prefer Greengrass.

  • dmac2498

    I thought the last two stunk, so I could care less if Greengrass were to come back and direct another ’shaky camera’ style installment. They should get Doug Liman, the person who directed the 1st movie, which is BY FAR, the best in the series.

  • diane

    I won’t watch any more movies that are filmed with hand-held cameras including the Bourne series or the Bond series. They make me sick to my stomach with all the bouncing around. I get the whole you’re there experiencing it idea, but I can go to Six Flags for the bouncy ride. I want to enjoy the movie, not throw up.

  • Nathan

    Good for Damon, I’d rather see no sequel at all than one by some hack director hired on a whim and on the cheap. Not even sure Doug Liman could do the series justice after what we’re used to with Paul Greengrass.

  • anonymous

    “I thought the last two stunk, so I could care less if Greengrass were to come back and direct another ’shaky camera’ style installment. They should get Doug Liman, the person who directed the 1st movie, which is BY FAR, the best in the series.”

    I liked the other two movies and I like Greengrass but I also loved Liman’s style too so I wouldn’t mnd if he came back.

  • Brady

    I’m inclined to agree with Matt Damon. No Greengrass means no Bourne 4. Identity was good, Supremacy was great, and Ultimatum was absolutely fantastic. I’m content with Bourne remaining a trilogy.

  • chazz

    Don’t have any clue what you’re all griping about – the shaky camera, etc. – I love the Bourne series and Matt Damon in it. Great action. Great music. I want them to do another one.

  • LFCJen

    Quite while you’re ahead I would say. I absolutely love the Bourne movies, but when studios just trying to draw out movies because they are popular they get old and usually the stories get weak. Bourne is one of the only series’ that I can think of where the stories and acting continue to be be top quality from movie to movie. Ultimatum was a great movies, and it had a good ending. I say leave it there.

  • Jessica Zeals

    Its a great Franchise, maybe Ben Afflek can direct fitnesslovematch.com

  • Ben Affleck

    DOUG LIMAN directed the first and best film in the franchise. Lets start the campaign now – draft Doug Liman for BOURNE 4.

  • Erin

    I agree the first one is the FINEST is the franchise. Simple, straightforward, not all that jumpy crap that makes me want to throw up.

    SONG OF THE YEAR:

  • eric

    Namedropping? Really? Lol, you stupid-a***d American.

  • Jessica Zeals

    Why is there a lady gaga video? who cares – bbwlovers.net

  • Big Fat Greek

    I hate greengrass’s direction. The constant cutting and shaky camera makes me want to throw up my souvlaki lunch.

  • LP

    Reasons not to make a fourth on top of an already excellent trilogy?
    Two words for you:
    Indiana Jones

  • Jim McDonough

    I heard there was some talk of hiring unkown short film maker Jim McDonough, but Damon said there is now way he would work with that clown. Apparently he saw one of his shorts:

  • Major

    I’ll tell you a reason not to make a fourth Bourne movie. You can only remake the Bourne Identity so many times. In my mind I title the movies: The Bourne Identity, The New Bourne Identity, and The Still Bourne Identity.

  • LingFang

    I absolutely love the Bourne movies, but when studios just trying to draw out movies because they are popular they get old and usually the stories get weak.

  • derf

    Three is enough. athletedates.com

  • terry

    Well, the writer of Quantum of Solace doesn’t exactly make me look forward to a fourth installment.

  • Hudson

    I love the Bourne films. They are intelligent and have great action scenes. I love all the locations and the locations do add depth to the movies. They are great. I would love to see more films made if they can keep up the great quality. Damon is right to hold out for the best.

  • K

    I thought they already finished the fourth, I was dead-wrong i guess! I’d rather them take their time and not screw it up! Love the Bourne series!

  • Baco Noir

    For all those no nothings who can’t stand Greengrass’s shaky cam and ‘excessive cutting’, look again. His use of hand-held camera is practically the only one in Hollywood where you are NEVER lost in the action. Can’t say that about the cr@ppy work C Nolan did in the Dark Knight. Yup, that was cr@p. I had NO idea where I was, who was fighting whom — and one of them was wearing a bat costume – now that’s horrid work. And Greengrass’s ‘constant cutting’? Doesn’t happen. His handheld clear camera work (he trained on documentaries) is usually very limited in its cutting because he knows what he’s doing with the camera at all times and doesn’t have to cut his image to ribbons. I had NO trouble following any of the fight scenes in either of his Bourne movies. That said, glad Damon will not do another without him. Limon’s was okay, but 2 and 3 really made the series.

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