The fourth Bourne movie is really in the works

It looks like renegade superspy Jason Bourne will be, well… Bourne again. At least on the page.

Universal has hired writer Tony Gilroy to work on a fourth installment of the globetrotting asskicker, tentatively titled THE BOURNE LEGACY. Gilroy, who has worked on all three prior movies, will scrap previous drafts for a fourth movie, as well as ignore the Bourne novel of the same name.

The studio apparently wants another chapter of their lucrative espionage franchise in theaters for 2012.

There’s a snag, of course — star Matt Damon has previously insisted he wouldn’t reprise the character without director Paul Greengrass, who has already expressed his complete lack of interest in returning.

Perhaps Universal is hoping to lure the duo back (or at least Damon) with a solid script, and maybe a reminder that their pricey non-Bourne collaboration GREEN ZONE was a box office tragedy. But the studio reportedly plans to make the movie “with or without them”.