After it was rumored back in September that Matt Damon would reprise his role as former CIA assassin Jason Bourne for yet another film in the Bourne franchise, the actor has now confirmed his return to the Robert Ludlum character that he helped established as a force in Hollywood.
During an interview with E! News, pal Ben Affleck confirmed Damon’s return to the spy-thriller series as the pair did the press rounds promoting the upcoming season of Project Greenlight, the HBO series they co-produce.
“Well, [Damon’s] going to be doing a Bourne movie next fall when I’ve just completely lost any semblance of physical fitness,” joked Affleck when asked about their upcoming projects.
Related: The Bourne Legacy gets the spy-thriller part right, but the action fizzles
A few months ago, it was reported that the attachment of director Paul Greengrass to a fifth Bourne movie had secured Damon’s return to the role he made famous with 2002’s The Bourne Identity. The franchise was inspired by a series of popular novels penned by Robert Ludlum.
“It’ll be in 2016 when the movie will actually come out.” added Damon. “Paul Greengrass is going to do another one and that’s all I ever said. I just needed him to say yes.”
The franchise was originally expected to make the switch to Jeremy Renner as the new protagonist after his character was introduced in The Bourne Legacy, but that film was shelved in order to make room for Damon’s return as Jason Bourne. That film was scheduled to hit theaters July 15, 2016, which is now expected to be the release date for the Greengrass-directed film.
