Matt Damon's Bourne Return? New Report Debunked By Universal [UPDATE]

Big Matt Damon Rumor Debunked

After saying no to another Jason Bourne movie for more than a year, is Matt Damon ready to say yes? That's the potential turn of events according to Twitch Film, which reports that Universal is negotiating with Damon and director Paul Greengrass to return for a fourth Bourne film, the duo's first since 2007's "Bourne Ultimatum."

UPDATE: According to Variety, however, the story is nothing but a rumor. Sources at Universal have denied having any talks with Damon or Greengrass. HuffPost Entertainment had previously contacted Damon's representatives for comment on the matter; this post will be updated with their response.

The original story continues below.

The Twitch Film story comes just a few weeks after Deadline.com reported that Universal was going ahead with a sequel to 2012's "The Bourne Legacy," which starred Jeremy Renner in place of Damon. (Renner played an entirely new character and not Jason Bourne.) In the Aug. 2 Deadline.com story on what was then called the fifth installment of "Bourne," it was noted that Universal hadn't "made headway" with Damon about returning.

Damon has long said a Bourne return would be difficult. "If you really look at the mythology of the character, we would have to figure out some reason to get him going again," Damon said in an interview with HuffPost Entertainment in July of 2012. "Because he is a guy who walked away from everything [in 'Bourne Ultimatum'], so we just have to solve that. And Paul and I haven't been able to do it. And we really wanted to make another one; we almost were making one a couple of years ago -- and then we just couldn't crack it. Because the second we said that we'd do it, they would announce a release date and then we would be making the movie. That happened to us on the last one. We did not have a script and we had a release date. And that was just harrowing."

In an interview with The Playlist, Damon said that "The Bourne Legacy" itself was also an obstacle to making another proper Jason Bourne feature.

"I think it's going to make it harder for us to make another one," Damon said. "Because they used our characters, anything that happens in that world, that's the 'Bourne' world now. So the pill-popping and all that stuff happens." ("The Bourne Legacy" takes place during the "Bourne Ultimatum" timeline, and introduces a chemically enhanced super-spy.)

For what it's worth, Damon will next be seen in "The Monuments Men" with George Clooney this December. After that, his schedule is wide open. For more, including what this means for "Bourne 5," head to Twitch. For more on the denial, hit Variety.

[via Twitch]

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