The timing was suspicious, considering the studio just moved forward on a sequel to The Bourne Legacy, with new star Jeremy Renner as agent Aaron Cross. While 'Legacy' didn't exactly set the world on fire, it's numbers were comparable to Damon's first 'Bourne' outing, and enough for Universal to have confidence.
Even though he did slam series scribe and 'Legacy' director Tony Gilroy at one point, Damon has been generally supportive of the franchise's new direction. He's been steadfast on the point that he'd never come back without Greengrass, and with both lining up one project after another, a return to Bourne just didn't seem likely. Despite this, the rumors have never really stopped.
So now Variety reports that sources within Universal have denied the story, stating that there is no truth to it at all. Of course that could just be them pulling our legs until a proper deal is worked out, or maybe Twitch had it wrong all along. We'll just have to wait and see how this whole thing works out.
