The Playlist

Tony Gilroy Responds To Matt Damon's 'Ultimatum' Diss & More From Empire's Feature On 'The Bourne Legacy'

By Oliver Lyttelton
|
June 28, 2012 3:02 PM
|
12 Comments

News

In a summer where more has been more when it comes to movie marketing (to the extent where a 25-minute cut of "The Amazing Spider-Man" has been assembled from clips and trailers alone), there's one film that's managed to keep things pretty much under wraps: "The Bourne Legacy." A continuation of Universal's blockbuster spy franchise, which sees Tony Gilroy -- writer on the first three films -- take over directorial duties having subsequently proved his chops (and how...) on the Oscar-nominated "Michael Clayton," the picture also stars Jeremy Renner taking over lead duties as Aaron Cross, another top-flight agent, albeit a very different character.

More:

5 Things You Might Not Know About 'The Bourne Identity,' Released 10 Years Ago Today

By Oliver Lyttelton
|
June 14, 2012 2:01 PM
|
5 Comments

Features

Ten years and one day ago, Doug Liman was an independent director with a couple of critical favorites behind him. Ten years and one day ago, Matt Damon was the promising writer/star of "Good Will Hunting" who's seemingly squandered his potential on a string of questionable choices, kept on the A-list only by his presence in "Ocean's Eleven." Ten years and one day ago, the spy genre was increasingly tired, with the Bond movies moving into new levels of ridiculousness (that year's "Die Another Day" would introduce Madonna and invisible cars to the series).

More:

First Look At Rachel Weisz Alongside Jeremy Renner In 'The Bourne Legacy'

By Oliver Lyttelton
|
May 28, 2012 10:36 AM
|
14 Comments

News

Of all the summer blockbusters on the way in the coming months, "The Bourne Legacy" is the one that's been keeping its cards closest to its chest. Even against the relatively secretive likes of "The Dark Knight Rises," Tony Gilroy's film, the fourth in the 'Bourne' franchise and the first without original star Matt Damon, has only unveiled a handful of stills and one stylish, '70s-style TV trailer, with only the barest minimum of details about the film revealed so far (many of them in our own chat with Gilroy).

More:

"We're Mission: Plausible, Not Mission: Impossible": Tony Gilroy Talks 'The Bourne Legacy'

By Oliver Lyttelton
|
May 11, 2012 12:36 PM
|
11 Comments

News

With the summer movie season underway after the opening of "The Avengers" last weekend, there's one movie that's taking a stealthier approach: "The Bourne Legacy," the fourth film in the blockbuster Robert Ludlum spy franchise, and the first without star Matt Damon in the lead role. Bringing in writer-director Tony Gilroy, who penned all three films to date before he went on to find his own success as a helmer with the Oscar-nominated "Michael Clayton," the film sees Jeremy Renner star as Aaron Cross, an operative from a CIA program more advanced than Operation Treadstone, with new cast members Edward Norton, Rachel Weisz, Oscar Isaac and Stacy Keach joining the returning Joan Allen, David Strathairn and Albert Finney.

More:

First Look: Edward Norton In 'The Bourne Legacy'; Tony Gilroy Hints At No Shaky Cam & A Distinctly Different Tone

By Edward Davis
|
April 17, 2012 2:59 PM
|
6 Comments

News

In many ways, Universal has taken great pains to explain to audiences that "The Bourne Legacy" starring Jeremy Renner is well-connected to the 'Bourne' series they know and love (and grossed $945 million worlwide). All the while, they're trying to explain that Jeremy Renner is not taking over for Matt Damon. It's a brand new series, yet it's connected to the same universe, got that?

More:

Watch: Jeremy Renner Becomes The Perfect Assassin In First Trailer For 'The Bourne Legacy'

By Oliver Lyttelton
|
February 8, 2012 12:21 PM
|
15 Comments

News

Jeremy Renner has a big year coming up. He's already sat on the sidelines for "Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol," he's one of "The Avengers," but the real test will be when he steps into the shoes of Matt Damon as the lead of Universal's big spy franchise, "The Bourne Legacy." The lid's been pretty tight on the film so far, but a trailer's arrived via Apple, and it's given us our first real look at Renner in action. And it's not quite what we were expecting.

More:

Matt Damon's Loyalty To Paul Greengrass & Friction With Tony Gilroy May Prevent Another Movie For Jason Bourne

By Kevin Jagernauth
|
December 20, 2011 9:30 AM
|
5 Comments

News

It's pretty rare for nice guy Matt Damon to stick the knife in anyone, but when he spoke to GQ recently, his candid remarks about screenwriter, and longtime Bourne series scribe Tony Gilroy, made their way around the world. Calling Gilroy's draft for "The Bourne Ultimatum" a "career-ender" and "readable" (it was later rewritten by George Nolfi and Scott Z. Burns), it was another sting sent to the screenwriter who has already had a rocky relationship with the franchise.

More:

Youch: Matt Damon Says Tony Gilroy's 'Bourne Ultimatum' Script Was An "Unreadable Career-Ender"

By Kevin Jagernauth
|
December 13, 2011 1:17 PM
|
8 Comments

News

To say that Tony Gilroy has had a bumpy relationship with the Jason Bourne franchise would be an understatement. He has never been happy with what what Doug Liman did on "The Bourne Identity" (“Those works were never meant to be filmed,” he said dismissively about the Robert Ludlum books. “They weren’t about human behavior. They were about running to airports”) and was even less impressed by Paul Greengrass' work on "The Bourne Supremacy" ("It was sort of like a crime against the gods of storytelling," he said). But the films made money. Lots of money. And moreover, Universal didn't want to jinx their luck by trying to get new writers to take on the franchise for "The Bourne Ultimatum," so they essentially gave Gilroy everything he wanted to write the third movie. Gilroy got a shit-ton of money and added stipulations that he just had to turn in one draft, he would take no notes nor would anyone be allowed to oversee what he was doing. Prime working conditions for any writer, but according to Matt Damon, that was massive mistake.

More:

Jeremy Renner Reveals Some 'Bourne Legacy' Details; Says He Talked To Matt Damon About The Role & Had His Worries About Taking It

By Edward Davis
|
November 22, 2011 10:39 AM
|
5 Comments

News

What's "The Bourne Legacy," the newest film in the franchise without Matt Damon, all about? Well, it's directed by Tony Gilroy who steered "Michael Clayton" to seven Oscar nominations for his first feature-length effort, it's lead by heir-apparent star Jeremy Renner ("Mission Impossible - Ghost Protocol," "The Hurt Locker") and it also includes Edward Norton, Rachel Weisz, Oscar Isaac, and returning members of the 'Bourne' franchise Joan Allen, Scott Glenn and Albert Finney.

More:

Matt Damon Hasn't Got Time For Your 'Bourne Legacy' Shenanigans

By Gabe Toro
|
September 10, 2011 1:00 AM
|
2 Comments

For a while, the rumor was floating that the spinoff film "The Bourne Legacy" would in some way utilize Matt Damon's Jason Bourne character, possibly in a cameo. Hell, the guy's already in the title. This ignores the politics of tentpole moviemaking, as the very act of rebooting serves many strategies, one of them being, "We're sick of paying the people who bring us success." So even with the 'Bourne' franchise achieving ever-escalating box office grosses ($442 million worldwide on the last entry), Damon, director Paul Greengrass and Universal couldn't reach a suitable agreement regarding a fourth film, leading to the significantly cheaper team of director Tony Gilroy and star Jeremy Renner.

More: