The news that viewers may receive aJason Bournefranchise reboot might sound promising, but I’m old enough to remember the last time that the franchise received a new face, and it wasn’t all that successful. According toThe Hollywood Reporter, theJason Bournefranchise may soon find a new home. The rights to the lucrative spy series are being shopped around by WME, with industry heavy-hitters like Apple, Netflix, and Skydance reportedly meeting with the rights holders.
This might sound exciting to anyone who missestheBournemoviesand wishes viewers had gotten to see more from the amnesiac super-spy. However, although the originalJasonBournetrilogy is a rare movie series that improves with each outing, I’m cautious about getting overly invested in the future of this reboot. After all, 2012’s largely forgotten franchise outing tried to reboot the series once already, and the result was an under-baked affair that failed to do justice to the promising premise of the series.
The Bourne Legacy Was Effectively A Jason Bourne Reboot
Jeremy Renner Briefly Replaced Matt Damon As The Franchise’s Hero
Although2012’sThe Bourne Legacywas directed byThe Bourne Ultimatumscreenwriter Tony Gilroy, the movie failed to recapture the paranoid atmosphere of the original trilogy and its bruising, brutal action. Jeremy Renner replaced Matt Damon as the protagonist although, interestingly, he did not play a recast version of Jason Bourne. Instead, Renner played the original character Aaron Cross, allowingThe Bourne Legacyto build on the universe established in the original trilogy instead of creating a new timeline for the franchise.
On the surface, this seems like a great idea. The originalJason Bournetrilogy was a superb set of spy thrillers that redefined the genre in the wake of 9/11, offering viewers an edgier, more cynical, and grounded vision of espionage more in line with Francis Ford Coppola’sThe Conversationthan Roger Moore’sJames Bondmovies. Indeed, evenDaniel Craig’sJames Bondmovies borrowedBourne’s relative realism, dispensing with one-liners and campy villains in favor of an anguished antihero and darker, grittier storylines. By 2012, theJason Bournemovies reshaped the public’s expectations of spy movies.
The trilogy’s popularity gave rise to movies likeBody of Lies,Green Zone,Haywire, Craig’s first twoJames Bondoutings, and a slew of other spy thrillers that ironically madeThe Bourne Legacyfeel redundant.
As such, the reboot seemed to have a fairly straightforward job. However, the trilogy’s popularity was a mixed blessing. By the time the reboot arrived,The Bourne Legacy felt tired and flat, according to critics. The main issue was that the trilogy’s popularity gave rise to movies likeBody of Lies,Green Zone,Haywire, Craig’s first twoJames Bondoutings, and a slew of other spy thrillers that ironically madeThe Bourne Legacyfeel redundant.
The Bourne Legacy’s Reception Suggests The Franchise Doesn’t Work Without Matt Damon
Renner’s Reboot Received Middling Reviews
The reason thatRenner’sJason Bourne reboot never received a sequelwas thatThe Bourne Legacyfelt uniquely unessential compared to the urgency of the original trilogy. Damon’s spy thrillers hummed with life and felt closely tied to real-world geopolitics, whereas the plot ofThe Bourne Legacywas simultaneously duller while also feeling more far-fetched. The sci-fi elements seemed to be beamed in from a sillier, campier story, but the stony-faced Renner played everything dead straight.
2002
$214 million
2004
$288.5 million
2007
$442.8 million
2012
$276 million
2016
$415.4 million
The result was a dour effort that lacked both the intensity of the original trilogy and its believability.Renner’s turn as Aaron Cross wasn’t the worst thing aboutThe Bourne Legacy,but the performance did seem to reaffirm that the franchise didn’t work without Damon to anchor its action. Cross was much more like a classic action hero than Damon’s morally conflicted assassin and, compared to2016’sJason Bourne, the reboot lacked the gravitas and surprisingly tragic edge brought by its original hero.
What A Jason Bourne Reboot Can Learn From The Bourne Legacy
The Bourne Legacy Needed To Feel More Like The Original Trilogy
For a newJason Bournereboot to work, the movie must avoid the mistakes made by 2012’sThe Bourne Legacy.The villain ofJason Bourne’s next reboot must feel real, like the shadowy CIA operatives of the original trilogy, instead of outlandish. WhereThe Bourne Legacyconcerned itself with killer viruses and super-soldier serums, the reboot should instead be focused on black sites, clandestine extra-governmental programs, and other realistic issues raised by the original trilogy. More than anything, the nextJason Bourneouting needs to be rooted in reality rather than over-the-top spy cinema tropes.
It’s Not Too Late For Matt Damon & Jeremy Renner’s Bourne Crossover Movie
The Jason Bourne franchise is not over yet, and with a sixth movie on the way, a team-up between Bourne and Aaron Cross is more possible than ever.
Thanks to Tom Cruise,theMission: Impossibleserieswill always haveJason Bournebeaten when it comes to wacky, larger-than-life villains and absurd stunts. Thus, theJason Bourneseries must drop the sci-fi elements and offer viewers something that feels closer to real-life espionage. This is what the original trilogy’s dim view of the CIA provided, and what 2016’sJason Bournetapped into surprisingly well despite almost a decade passing betweenThe Bourne Ultimatum’s arrival and its release. Thus, any futureJason Bournefranchise reboot needs to prioritize this.
