Bourne 4: kiss Greengrass goodbye

Director Paul Greengrass has bailed on the proposed fourth Bourne movie, leaving the entire project in jeopardy. But is this a bad thing?

This writer considers the Jason Bourne trilogy to be one of the finest, most well-rounded action series of the last 20 years, and it appears I'm not alone. Critically and commercially acclaimed, they actually forced James Bond's hand; only a couple of 007's sluts can say that.

A fourth Bourne movie, to follow Identity, Supremacy and Ultimatum, always seemed likely but never really felt totally necessary: the series ended on a huge high after all. Naturally, as fans we'd want to see more of Bourne, and Greengrass and Matt Damon also figured he'd be fun to revisit, though they remained vocal they'd only bring him back if they found a way to do it respectfully.

Well, it looks like Paul Greengrass couldn't do Bourne justice, as The Playlist are reporting he has walked from the project. Script issues seem to be the reason for his departure; either he couldn't find a story he liked, or he was uncomfortable with the direction Universal wanted to take the franchise. Either way, his ass is Greengrass.

Where does this leave Bourne 4? Matt Damon, until he insists otherwise, is still attached to another David Webb adventure and has professed his love of the character several times in interviews. Could another director take the reins? May we be the first to suggest Doug Liman returns to the series after kickstarting it with Identity? Most people don't give Liman the credit he deserves and simply heap the praise on Greengrass and Damon.

With Liman on board, it'd be a pretty seamless refit, and Bourne is a character audiences seemingly can't get enough of. What say you?