Matt Damon is not attached at all to the next Bourne film titled Bourne Legacy, but that doesn’t mean they are scrapping the film. And instead of trying to recast Damon’s character, it looks like they will shift to a new protagonist also affected by the brainwashing experiments.
Ramascreen quotes Tony Gilroy:
“Gilroy has smartly decided to remove the focus from Jason Bourne, and expand the franchise mythology. He’s creating new characters and will tell a different story about the parent company behind the murderous shadow government operation Treadstone, which brainwashed covert agents like Bourne and turned them into ruthless killers….the new protagonist will be another agent and probably a killer who went through experiences similar to Bourne’s or the character played by Clive Owen in the original Bourne. The plot accepts everything that has happened in the trilogy and factors it into the storyline. Because Gilroy isn’t replacing Bourne with another actor, he has made it possible for Damon to eventually return for a big paycheck reprise.”
Now this makes a lot more sense.
Originally we heard that the Borne films were going to include all the same cast but be some sort of reboot of the franchise. Its not a reboot, but more like a spinoff.
This leaves room for tons of character development of the new guy, and then in a following chapter, perhaps bring back Jason Bourne working with the new guy, or picking up where that guy leaves off (if he doesn’t survive the film) to finish the job of taking down Treadstone.
And if Damon says he will never do Bourne again? They continue with the new guy.
