Universal appears to be one step closer to hiring a Bourne 5 director for their next big sequel. According to Screen Rant, they are in early talks to hire Justin Lin (Fast & Furious series) to helm the director’s chair and Jeremy Renner is expected to reprise his lead role as Aaron Cross. This is far from a done deal however since it should be noted Lin has had many offers to choose from since leaving the Fast & Furious franchise.
This announcement is giving me some mixed feelings. I was really hoping the next Bourne movie would bring Matt Damon back into the series, which was apparently only going to happen if they also brought back director Paul Greengrass (both of which now seem to be out of the question). Call me crazy, but I was hoping that the next Bourne movie would actually have Jason Bourne in it.
Then again, maybe a new director like Lin can breathe some new life into the franchise. Nothing against Renner but things were never really the same without Damon. Bourne Legacy was very noticeable step down in quality and by far the weakest installment of the series. Lin was able to take a franchise of mediocre drag-racing movies and turned it into one of the most profitable franchises in Hollywood. His Fast & Furious movies were never exactly Oscar winning material but hopefully if he agrees to do this he can at least put in the kind of action scenes that made Bourne so much fun to watch in the first place.
Of course, I can’t help but ask why Lin would agree to do it to begin with. He had apparently left the Fast & Furious series because of Universal’s increasing pressure on him to get installments made quicker (three movies have been released in the past four years). So why would he want to go back to Universal and risk repeating that same headache? Of course, if he decides not to do it, maybe Universal can take another stab at Greengrass (fingers crossed).
Would Justin Lin be a good choice as the Bourne 5 director? Let us know in the comment section below.
Source: Screen Rant