Jason Bourne is looking for a new home as the rights to the superspy is leaving Universal. Captivate Entertainment, which holds the rights to the Bourne franchise through author Robert Ludlum’s estate, is putting the character up for sale with several studios in the running to potentially take Bourne for themselves.
Published by Ludlum in 1980, The Bourne Identity followed the mysterious Jason Bourne, a man who was saved from the sea with bullets in his back and a case of amnesia. As he tried picking up the pieces of his life and discovering who he was, it quickly became clear he is a very dangerous man heavily trained in weapons and fighting. On the run and targeted by several government agencies and criminal organizations, Bourne has to find out the secret behind his identity and why so many people want him dead.
The book was a huge hit and has been one of Ludlum’s most popular stories in his library of espionage thrillers, spawning two sequels The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Ultimatum. After his death in 2001, the estate has published further Bourne novels through other authors. A miniseries of The Bourne Identity was made in 1988 with Richard Chamberlain and Jaclyn Smith, but the character’s media presence is most known for Matt Damon’s take in the film franchise after he starred in a modern-day adaptation of Identity in 2002 and its two sequels.
Following what seemed like the franchise’s conclusion in The Bourne Ultimatum, Jeremy Renner starred in a spin-off The Bourne Legacy as an assassin in an offshoot of the same program Bourne was in and Damon returned to his iconic role in 2016’s Jason Bourne.
Captivate is being repped by WME for the sale, which has Skydance, Netflix and Apple reportedly vying for the rights to Bourne as their next big franchise. It is unknown if the intention is to get Damon back for more Bourne films are just do a fresh reboot of the series.
What do you think of this news? Would you like to see Matt Damon return as Jason Bourne or would you prefer the franchise rebooted under new leadership? Let us know on our social channels at @FlickeringMyth…
Ricky Church – Follow me on Bluesky for more movie news and nerd talk.
