Paul Greengrass, who directed the second and third installments of the $945 million grossing franchise — The Bourne Supermacy and The Bourne Ultimatum — has confirmed that he will not be making the fourth film. Greengrass, who also directed the controversial 9/11 drama United 93, issued this statement: “You won’t find a more devoted supporter of the Bourne franchise than me. I will always be grateful to have been the caretaker to Jason Bourne over the course of The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Ultimatum. I’m very proud of those films and feel they express everything I most passionately believe about the possibility of making quality movies in the mainstream. My decision to not return a third time as director is simply about feeling the call for a different challenge. There’s been no disagreement with Universal Pictures. The opportunity to work with the Bourne family again is a difficult thing to pass up, but we have discussed this together and they have been incredibly understanding and supportive. I’ve been lucky enough to have made four films for Universal, and our relationship continues. Jason Bourne existed before me and will continue, and I hope to remain involved in some capacity as the series moves on.”
The story, which originally broke earlier this week on the blog The Playlist, cited script challenges and Greengrass’s schedule as mitigating factors. (Greengrass has been busy making Green Zone, a big-budget Iraq-based thriller, with Bourne star Matt Damon.) Variety’s Michael Fleming reports today that Damon is not yet attached to make the fourth Bourne film, either, and posits that Tony Gilroy, who wrote all three previous Bourne films and recently directed Michael Clayton and Duplicity, could now possibly step in to write and direct. It’s also possible that Georg Nolfi –who co-wrote Ultimatum with Gilroy and is now making his directing debut, Adjustment Bureau (based on a Philip K. Dick short story) with Damon in the lead — might also consider stepping in as director. Nolfi has already written a version of the script for the fourth Bourne, but when he left to do Adjustment, the studio brought in writer Joshua Zetumer to script a different version. It remains to be seen which script, and which director (if any), will persuade Damon to sign his name on the dotted line.
While I must say I’ll be less enthusiastic about any Bourne movie without Greengrass, Tony Gilroy would be a fine replacement in my book. I’m sad to see him leave the series, but I’m excited for what he’s got cookin’ (United 93 is one of the most underappreciated movies of this decade, and I can’t wait to see Green Zone).
I agree. It’s sad that Greengrass is stepping down considering Supremacy and Ultimatum were the best of the series (in my opinion), but considering Gilroy is the one who adapted all three brilliant screenplays, I think he would be an excellent choice for director.
I thought Greengrass really hit his stride with the third film, so it’s unfortunate that he wont’t be working on the fourth. However, Tony Gilroy is certainly a more than adequate replacement. After a triumph like Michael Clayton, I’m sure he can do Bourne without breaking a sweat.
I’m glad he’s going. I never cared for his quick twitch directorial style. The original film by Doug Liman was the best of the three for me although I realize that people, for reasons unknown to me, think Greengrass is a good director.
I wouldn’t mind a reboot of the series. Greengrass’ direction and handheld cams was hard to watch.
Reboot? It’s not stale yet…
If you want a reboot just watch the new James Bond movies.
Thank you! Totally agree!!
Could not agree more … three fantastic scripts and casts but #2 and #3 were ruined for me by the direction. Gave me a headache.
English 101: What’s wrong with the punctuation of this sentence?
Greengrass, who also directed the controversial 9/11 drama, United 93, issued this statement:
English 102: get YOUR facts (in this case your comma remark) straight before you make grammatical judgments. Can you read? Sorry. Let me rephrase: can, you, read?
Greengrass, who also directed the controversial 9/11 drama United 93, issued this statement:
What’s wrong with it? Um… nothing. Before you direct someone else to English 101, it’s important that you first get through the class yourself.
And by “it,” I’m referring to the ACTUAL line in the article.
What’s wrong: It has an Oxford comma, which they teach you long before English 101, then, IN English 101, you get lazy grad students who stop enforcing their usage.
Nothing…
That’s too bad. The Bourne movies just got better and better with each one. The last one was simply outstanding. One of the best movies of that year.
You must watch some sh1t movies if you think that’s the case.
No, as a matter of fact, I only watch “good” movies. Bourne 3 holds up against ANY Oscar-nominated pic from that year.
Ok, than you just have sh1t taste. I’m still laughing, one of the best movies of the year! Your collection must have a lot of Flinstones, Viva Rock Vegas in it, LMAO!!! Even fans of the series don’t try to claim it’s a serious “film”. Watch some more films, you need to expand your lack of knowledge.
Wow were you born a total a-hole or did someone hurt you? What a pr1ck you are. Yes Blackirish… The FLintstones, that’s exactly the kind of movie I love. Don’t forget the Chipmunks films! I’m SO sorry you’re offended by my taste in one movie. Watch it again and maybe you’ll appreciate what an excellent movie it it. And since you seem to think I’m the only person in the world who thinks Bourne 3 is a great movie, why don’t you take a look at its 93% rating on Rotten Tomatoes? Or that IMDB users rank it at 146 in their list of all-time best movies? YOU are the one with questionable taste jack@ss.
This is really too bad. I know some people don’t like Greengrass’s shaky camera work, but I, for one, feel that his style really defined the franchise and made it memorable. The handheld camera work was never confusing for me and it really heightened the tension of both the action scenes and the quieter dramatic scenes.
Agreed. I’m an editor myself and the Cuisinart style of cutting usually irritates and disorients me (“Quantum of Solace” and the films of the Scott brothers are perfect examples). I don’t know how Greengrass does it, how you get all the caffeination and energy and still know exactly where you are and what exactly is happening. But if you’re going to take Bourne in a new direction — and honestly, at this point you have to — it’s probably best that you have a new director and style.
I always found that amazing too. Despite the shaky cam I always knew what was going on in each action scene and could still enjoy the fight cherography, unlike Michael Bay’s Transformers 2. The only issue that I found with the shaky cam is that it was sometimes distracting in simple dialogue scenes like when Joan Allen was talking to David Strathairn over breakfast.
Thanks EW! I’ve been waiting all day to get the news from you. I guess all the Twilight news is quiet for now.
It’s about time. Twilight is soooooooo overrated.
I am not a big action fan but I LOVE THE BOURNE SERIES. However, I really felt that the last one really wrapped up the story. What else is left to say. Ultimately it was a quest for his true identity & finding the “puppet masters”.
We don’t see alot of movies now with the baby…However, Matt Damon in a Bourne movie….Call the babysitter…He’s always worth it!!!!!
This is one film franchise that does NOT need a sequel. It would just ruin the series as a whole. The series is fine as it is.
Bourne 4′s already coming out – it’s called Green Zone.
Yeah, this is over. Without Greengrasss, I don’t want to see a 4th Bourne film. The trilogy is just too good to taint.
What?? This trilogy is nothing special and Greengrass is crap. Shaky handheld camera style is so lame. I hope they don’t make it but because I’m worried about the smell not the taint.
Dude, that really sucks. Tony Gilroy probably would do a fine job directin (I really liked Michael Clayton), but I loved Paul Greengrass and his shaky-cam approach to Bourne. It always annoys me when other directors try to do it, because not many other people can. That really sucks, though. I’d still like to see Bourne 4 as long as they get a good director.
I think the idea of a 4th film is SILLY since Robert Ludlum (RIP) the guy who wrote the books only wrote 3! But we all know Hollywood loves to suck every last penny out of franchise fans.
The movies don’t even follow the books, they just borrow the titles. So the two stories are completely separate, autonamous entities (I’ve never read the books but love the movies). All they would need to do is make up a new title.
If you never read the books how do you know how closely or not they (the films) follow plot points?
Because I’m familiar with the criticism of book fans. Also, even the back covers of the books seem to be a completely different story than the films.
I have read them and I’m going to disagree. They have used many points from the books but altered emphasis or maybe used major instances in the books as minor plot points. Just reading I back cover or being familiar with criticism doesn’t give you a good idea of the actual content of the book. Read it and then comment or don’t comment on that area.
Not only did the films only borrow the titles, but after Ludlum’s death, several more sequels have followed.
There is no doubt in my mind the Bourne franchise will suffer without Greengrass. Gilroy did a great job with Michael Clayton but Duplicity (bigger budget, larger scale film) was a serious misfire. After hearing him on Meet the Filmmaker on Itunes, I was even less impressed with the man. He implied that he didn’t want to direct a big budget film. Okay I’m going to disclose that I have a bias against him because he seemed like such an arrogant dbag. Bourne would ruin him which I would kind of like.