Damon glad to be Bourne again
Earlier films heaped many blessings on his career, the actor says
For Matt Damon, the “Jason Bourne” films have been a lifeline.
“I was kind of inoculated for that five- or six-year period when I made the first three. I could make decisions with absolutely no thought to what the potential box office was,” says Damon in an interview. “It was liberating in that sense. I knew that, if I had another Jason Bourne off in the middle distance, it would kind of rescue me and keep my career afloat for a few more years.”
In the upcoming “Jason Bourne,” set for release July 29, Damon returns to the spy franchise that sprang from a series of novels by Robert Ludlum.
“It’s obviously the most significant thing that’s happened in my career,” says Damon, 45, by phone from the set of Alexander Payne’s “Downsizing.” “I definitely knew I wanted to do it again, but I was always kind of tethered to Paul (Greengrass). I knew I didn’t want to do it without him (directing).”
It’s been nine years since Damon’s “The Bourne Ultimatum,” but the franchise has kept humming. “The Bourne Legacy,” in 2012, starred Jeremy Renner as another secret agent.
That film grossed less than the three previous “Bourne” movies, however, thus proving the value of both Damon and Greengrass to the series. The “Captain Phillips” filmmaker directed Damon’s two previous “Bourne” movies.
The actor says the delay in the current project was partly caused by a struggle to find a worthy next chapter for the character. The time helped. “Jason Bourne” was partly inspired by Edward Snowden’s leaks and the subsequent debate over civil liberties.
“All those people who have come up to me over the years — hopefully, they’re representative of a whole group of people who will go buy tickets,” says Damon.
“We’re counting on it,” he adds. “You never know — it’s the movie business, so it could be a total disaster.”