George Nolfi Explains What Happened to Abandoned Fourth Bourne Movie
Posted 02.27.11 by Ryan
Back in 2009, The Bourne Ultimatum screenwriter George Nolfi was hired to write a fourth Bourne movie for The Bourne Supremacy and Ultimatum director Paul Greengrass and actor Matt Damon. Greengrass left the proposed sequel, and Nolfi went on to write and direct the upcoming The Adjustment Bureau (which stars Damon). Universal moved on to The Bourne Legacy, which won't feature Jason Bourne, but another protagonist with the same training and skill set and has Tony Gilroy writing and directing.
In an interview with The Playlist, Nolfi explained what happened to his Bourne 4 was abandoned.
It was not a surprise because I know Paul Greengrass well, I know Matt well, I know Universal well at this point, I know the producer well at this point. [The message was always] sort of like, Matt and Paul may be willing to do it for us, they may not, and there are all kinds of reasons completely dependent on the script and story for why that would be, which I’ll let them speak about. Not the least of which, they had just shot Ultimatum, and it was an incredibly hard shoot, and they had just done Green Zone, and to go and do a fourth one right away, it’s like, they wanted to do other things with their life.
While Nolfi says he isn't likely to return for another Bourne, he says he supports Gilroy's Bourne Legacy, which is currently in the process of casting.
It totally makes sense that if they do one that doesn’t have Matt and it goes off into another direction that it be Tony [Gilroy], because Tony really cracked the book, and he was the first writer in on all three of the Bourne scripts. He’s sort of the keeper of the initial flame, even before Matt Damon got onto it.
Nolfi also points out that Gilroy's Bourne Legacy "doesn’t preclude another Matt Damon—Greengrass Bourne [movie]," something Damon revealed last month.
"Universal don't actually own the Bourne character — the estate [of Robert Ludlum] does — so technically I could go to Warner Bros... and Universal could read about it online," said Damon, who also revealed that such a reunion, should it ever happen, isn't likely for another five years.
Next Showing: The Adjustment Bureau opens March 4