Rumor has it that the fifth film, unofficially titled Bourne 5, in the Bourne franchise is being delayed almost an entire year from August 2015 to July 15, 2016 so Matt Damon could return to his iconic role as Jason Bourne.
The fourth film from the franchise, The Bourne Legacy, attempted to replace Damon with Jeremy Renner, who played the lead character Aaron Cross in the latest film. But to no avail, it resulted as the lowest grossing Bourne film to be released domestically, making $113 million and $276 million worldwide.
In comparison, 2007’s third installment, The Bourne Ultimatum, featuring Matt Damon, made almost double the amount with $227 million domestically and $442 worldwide.
Latino Review reports “a deeply embedded trusted source” says that Damon has in fact struck a deal to play his signature role as Jason Bourne in the fifth film, which will be directed by Justin Lin.
During an interview with CNBC last month, the actor previously explained how he would consider returning to the franchise under one condition.
“I’ve always been open to it if Paul Greengrass is the director,” said the actor. “We’ve just never been able to come up with a story. So if any of your viewers have a story, please call Universal and submit it.”
“It felt like such a good way to end it the last time… But having said that, I love that character and I’d love to see what happened to him.”
Latino Review’s source believes that Damon’s return may have something to do with the “recent misfires at the box office.”
No word yet on whether Jeremy Renner would return as his character in the next film. He is currently working on reprising his role as Hawkeye in Joss Whedon’s The Avengers: Age of Ultron.
