Friday, October 17, 2008

Bourne Again!

We have news that a fourth Bourne movie is moving forward. Back the Brinks truck to Matt Damon's house. No way you can turn down the kind of money this franchise has made. Damon is probably the only actor under 60 with a back pocket franchise. The big question is whether he can get Jimmy Kimmel and Ben Affleck to cameo wearing daisy dukes and dog collars.

But here's the deal. What do you do with an amnesia based trilogy, post-amnesia? There are obvious hurdles here:
1) Bourne has his memory completely back.
2) He's killed everyone who trained him and fucked him over.
3) He now has absolute regret for all of his killings.
4) He has profound self-loathing for the fact that he ever was a hired killer.
5) A prequel perhaps? Damon is not in the shape Hugh Jackman is. It's doubtful he'll be able to pull off 26 at the age of 40.

In a franchise town, Universal is the kid at the table who is wearing thrift store clothing. They just don't have much but the Ludlum stuff. Moreover, Bourne's story arc kind of completed its course, leaving Jason, post-memory loss and regretful about his life. What to do, especially since the novels have run their course? Sure they can have him tackle Carlos the Jackal, something they excluded in the films from the novels. Or, make him a one-man A-Team. "If you need help, and you can find him, etc." We have some other ideas:

He's now a chef:
The Bourne Rotisserie
The Bourne Cotillion

Lawyer:
The Bourne Practice
The Bourne Time to Kill
The Bournemaker

Hollywood military adviser:
The Bourne Consultancy
Get Bourney

Gynecologist:
The Bourne Examination
The Bourne Smear

Schoolteacher:
The Bourne Recess
The Bourne Detention

1 comment:

BBridges said...

Well, you already answered the question with this "post-memory loss and regretful about his life." and the obvious answer is "The Forlorn Bourne" Maybe they can get Mike Nichols to direct.