Matt Damon finally gives a Bourne 5 update a decade after his last mission

Look, it’s been ten years since Jason Bourne went off the grid—again—after another mad chase through exploding cities and tangled government conspiracies. Ever since, it’s mostly just been hushed chatter: is the world’s favourite memory-impaired killer ever coming back? Apart from a patchy spin-off and the odd rumour, Bourne’s stayed very much in hiding. Now, Matt Damon’s dropped a fresh update about Bourne 5, and for once, it isn’t total radio silence.

Bourne: The State of Play

Right, if you’ve been living under a rock: Damon shot to superstardom with The Bourne Identity back in 2002, playing a bloke who wakes up with no memory and, inconveniently, a bank vault full of passports. Cue some of the cleanest, most grounded action cinema this side of Bond—lots of shaky cam, a frankly terrifying amount of pen-based violence, and whole new levels of bone-crunching realism that changed the action genre for good.

Three main films and a decade later, Damon’s Bourne trilogy remains one of the few series people actually refer to as 'proper classics'. You’ve got The Bourne Supremacy (2004), The Bourne Ultimatum (2007), and then an odd little sidestep with Jeremy Renner in The Bourne Legacy (2012)—which, let’s be honest, never turned heads in quite the same way. Last time out for Damon was Jason Bourne in 2016, but nobody’s exactly lining up to stick that on a ‘Best of’ list. It felt like warmed up leftovers, if we’re being blunt.

Is Bourne 5 Actually Happening?

According to Damon, they’re still trying to crack it. Here’s what he said, fairly tongue-in-cheek:

'We’re always looking to try to get another one of those because we loved it, everyone who worked on them. So there’s always some attempt going on to write, to come up with a new story. So if you have anything, let us know.'

In other words: yes, they want to do it. No, there’s not a confirmed script or direction yet. There’s this sense they’re all waiting for the right angle, but no one’s found it so far.

Who Owns Bourne Now... and What’s Next?

After a bit of legal wrangling (the rights have bounced about as much as Bourne during a chase sequence through Paris), NBCUniversal now fully owns the whole lot—the original books, the ‘Treadstone’ TV bits, everything. This gives them a free hand to turn it into anything they want, film or TV.
But despite the fresh corporate certainty, there’s still no plan set for the next film’s story. It’s a bit of an odd scenario: massive IP, loads of eager fans, and yet, as of right now, zero clear vision on what happens next.

So Who Could Direct Bourne 5?

• There’s strong industry talk that Edward Berger—yes, the same Berger who bagged the Oscar for All Quiet on the Western Front—might be the one to direct. There’s even a working title floating around: The Bourne Dilemma.
• No clue if it’s a real title or someone taking the mick about nobody knowing what the film’s actually about.
• Damon’s up for it if Berger is: he called the director 'a great director' and confirmed Berger has his own take on where the story could go.

Before Bourne: Damon’s Next Gig

While the next Bourne mission sits in development limbo, Damon isn’t just twiddling his thumbs. He’s set to play Odysseus in Christopher Nolan’s upcoming action fantasy, The Odyssey, which, barring any more global catastrophes, should hit cinemas on 17 July 2026.