No longer will it be Matt Damon beating the crap out of some European with a paper or pen in the Bourne franchise but Jeremy Renner will be taking over but not as Bourne but a super spy named Martin.
Renner has been picking up a lot of steam in the last couple of years since THE HURT LOCKER and starring in other Oscar nominated films such as THE TOWN. With his profile interesting especially with his upcoming roles as Hawkeye in THE AVENGERS and HANSEL AND GRETEL: WITCH HUNTERS the studios have decided to give him his own solo gig with the next Bourne film titled THE BOURNE LEGACY.
The hiring of Renner could be a problem though as it has been reported that Tom Gilroy who wrote the previous Bourne films and directed MICHAEL CLAYTON has been in disputes with the studio over the casting before Renner’s name was mentioned. Gilroy wanted ANIMAL KINGDOM’s Joel Edgerton but Universal wants to keep him for the troubled SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN and instead were suggesting James McAvoy or Shia LaBeouf. Hopefully with the casting of Renner the dispute has been put to rest and the film can proceed but hey it is Hollywood so you never know.
With Damon being hugely reluctant to continue with the franchise it will be interesting to see if the films five and six in the series will still be called Bourne since another character will be taking over.