The fifth installment of the Bourne series is getting a new, Oscar-winning face: Tommy Lee Jones. Joining star Matt Damon, Jones will play a “superior officer at the CIA” according to Variety.
The news follows other recent castings including Julia Stiles, who will reprise her role as Nicky Parsons, and Ex Machina‘s Alicia Vikander. Paul Greengrass, who directed The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Ultimatum, returns to helm the currently unnamed film which is set to debut on July 29, 2016.
Little is known about the plot of the film, although we’re sure it’ll be another spy thriller featuring CIA assassin Jason Bourne (Damon) either chasing someone, or getting chased. And it seems like Jones will be put into the same character as past actors Edward Norton, Chris Cooper, Brian Cox, and David Strathairn. Greengrass will write the screenplay with Christopher Rouse.
The upcoming film will feature Damon as Bourne for the first time since 2007. The most recent film in the series, The Bourne Legacy, starred Jeremy Renner and was directed by Tony Gilroy. It’ll certainly be interesting to see what direction Greengrass goes with Bourne after an eight-year interlude, particularly since Greengrass told Deadline as recently as one year ago that at once Bourne regained his memory, there was no place else for the character to go creatively.
As noted when Damon announced he would come back to the Bourne series, he’s only back because of Greengrass.
Jones most recently directed, starred and co-wrote 1850s midwest period drama The Homesman. Also on deck for the veteran actor is a co-starring role in Criminal (alongside Kevin Costner), and another 2016 thriller The Mechanic (alongside Jason Statham and Jessica Alba).
Production is expected to last through the end of the summer, with an expected release date set for July 16, 2016. While we can’t be sure whether the film will have the commercial punch that the first three did, the fifth Bourne film is definitely generating some early buzz and stoking interest.
