Famed director Paul Greengrass(United 93, Bloody Sunday) has reportedly quit the upcoming 4th installment of the Jason Bourne franchise. Greengrass, who has directed the last two Bourne films, and in my opinion elevated them to legendary status, indicated there was no ill will between him and Universal Studios, but that he merely wants to do other things. Greengrass's next film is the Bourne-esque Iraq War thriller, Green Zone.
The 4th Bourne film, likely to be titled The Bourne Legacy, has faced a myriad of problems since it was announced. Legacy is based on the 4th book in the series, the first not written by Bourne creator, Robert Ludlum. Matt Damon is not currently attatched to the film, although Julia Stiles and Joan Allen have been approached to reprise their roles. The script was initially written by previous Bourne screenwriter, George Nolfi, but he left to do other projects. So another script was commissioned by yet another writer, so two scripts exist and neither has been greenlit so far.
There exists the possibility that all of these problems, including Damon's less than enthusiastic interest for the project as of now, could lead to the franchise's end. But I don't think that's likely. Universal would explore every other possibility before that happens, including rebooting the franchise with a new actor in the lead role the way so many other studios have done lately. So don't count on this being the end of the line for the superspy just yet.
Variety has more on the story here.
