THR reports that Jason Bourne is looking for a new home. The action franchise has been at Universal Pictures for over two decades, but the rights to Jason Bourne have reverted back to the Robert Ludlum estate.
WME is shopping the rights to other studios and streamers on behalf of Ludlum’s estate, with the goal being to “find a new home for the franchise and make the superspy a more regular presence onscreen.” Skydance, Apple, and Netflix have reportedly met with the estate, and even Universal could win back the rights if they’re willing to shell out the cash. It’s not certain if Matt Damon will continue to be involved, but you would imagine that whichever studio secures the rights would want to make a fresh start.
Based on Robert Ludlum’s novels, Jason Bourne was introduced to the big screen with The Bourne Identity in 2002. The film was a huge success and was followed by The Bourne Supremacy in 2004, The Bourne Ultimatum in 2007, The Bourne Legacy in 2012, and Jason Bourne in 2016. There was talk of a new Bourne movie in 2023, with All Quiet on the Western Front director Edward Berger in negotiations to helm the project, but it didn’t come together.
Although the last Bourne movie did relatively well at the box office (taking in $415 million worldwide), the reaction was mixed. Even Damon acknowledged the collective ‘meh’ from audiences. “This last one didn’t do as well as the one we did 10 years ago, so maybe people are done with the character,” Damon said. “I think everybody is leaving the door open, as we did at the end of this movie, in hopes that we can come up with an intriguing story for the next one.“
It’s too early to say where the Jason Bourne franchise will end up, but in the wake of Amazon taking control of the James Bond franchise, it’s hard to think of yet another classic spy franchise falling under the umbrella of a streaming service.
