Tony Gilroy Will Not Recast Matt Damon's Part in His Upcoming Bourne Sequel

It's now confirmed that Matt Damon will not return for Tony Gilroy's upcoming Jason Bourne sequel. But rather than join the checkered history of franchises that recast the lead character, Gilroy has hatched a new plan that both allows for Damon's absence, and gives the actor an option to return for a later sequel.

Rather than focus on Jason Bourne at all, Gilroy (who wrote the original films and is taking over Paul Greengrass' role as director for the new one) says The Bourne Legacy will delve deeper into the universe of the Bourne franchise. This could mean a new assassin, a look behind the scenes of the training program or a story involving a side character from one of the existing films, possibly Clive Owen from the first film. Says Gilroy:

I'm not going to get into the plot, but you saw the other three films, you know everything that happened, and it's not a dream sequence. What I can say is, you thought that was the whole world, but it was a small piece of what was going on. Ultimatum exploded at the end with people arrested. We deal with that as a reality, it has ramifications that echo out into the larger world. And of course, Jason Bourne is still alive and out there in the world. I don't want to go beyond that, because the last thing I need is for every blogger to be second guessing.

Right, because vague statements peppered with references to the last film won't cause anyone on the internet to speculate. In any case, Gilroy also said, "I came up with the whole thing and if it wasn't a swinging idea, I wouldn't have signed on to direct." If Gilroy had used any other adjective besides "swinging," I'd be skeptical, but for now I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt.

Meanwhile, Deadline reports that insiders say the strategy will give the franchise some breathing room and allow Matt Damon to return to the franchise down the line, should he choose. Although, given Damon's previous comments about a sequel, it seems like he'd have to be pretty hard up to come back.

·Matt Damon Won't Star In 4th 'Bourne'; Tony Gilroy Introducing New Assassin; Why Damon Could Be Jason Bourne Again [Deadline]

·Matt Damon and Director Paul Greengrass Say JASON BOURNE is Dead! [Collider]