Jason Bourne is emptying out his safe deposit box on the Universal lot.
WME is shopping the rights to the spy franchise and the rest of the Robert Ludlum library on behalf of the late author’s estate.
The goal is to find a new home for the franchise and make the superspy a more regular presence onscreen. Bourne last appeared nearly a decade ago in Jason Bourne (2016), from Universal and producer Captivate Entertainment, which manages the film rights for the Ludlum estate. It is too early to say if longtime star Matt Damon would be involved in the new iteration.
Skydance, Apple and Netflix are said to have met with the estate for the rights. Universal, too, could potentially win the rights back if it made an attractive bid.
Jason Bourne sprung from the mind of novelist Ludlum, who published The Bourne Identity in 1980. Two decades later, star Damon and director Doug Liman introduced him to the big screen with 2002’s The Bourne Identity. The film, coming a few years before Daniel Craig’s grounded reinvention of James Bond with Casino Royale, ushered in a new era of spy movies that favored realism rather than high-tech gadgets.
It spawned two sequels based on Ludlum’s books, The Bourne Ultimatum (2004) and The Bourne Supremacy (2007). Universal extended the franchise with Jeremy Renner playing a different character in 2012’s The Bourne Legacy, but it did not stick. Damon returned a few years later with Jason Bourne, which earned $415 million globally.
The Bourne move comes as the land rush for IP intensifies, with fewer and fewer known properties up for grabs. Amazon, in recent weeks, took control of James Bond from producers Barbara Brocoli and Michael G. Wilson.
In recent years, Universal had toyed with bringing Bourne back, with Conclave director Edward Berger hired in late 2023 to develop a new take. But it did not come to fruition fast enough.
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