Matt Damon Calls New Jason Bourne Director ‘Fantastic’ and Says He’s ‘Anxious’ to Learn More: ‘I Hope It’s Great and That We Can Do It’

When news broke last November that Universal Pictures was developing a sixth Bourne movie with “All Quiet on the Western Front” director Edward Berger, fans were left wondering if Matt Damon would be returning to his iconic action franchise. The Bourne series, which includes four films headlined by Damon and one by Jeremy Renner, has earned $1.6 billion worldwide. Damon’s last outing was 2016’s “Jason Bourne.”

Damon made a recent appearance on “The Late Show” and stopped short of confirming he’ll star in the new Bourne movie when the topic was brought up by host Stephen Colbert. However, the actor showered incoming Bourne director Edward Berger with praise and sounded hopeful about appearing in the film. Berger had a career breakthrough in 2022 with his Netflix adaptation of “All Quiet on the Western Front,” which earned nine Oscar nominations, including best picture, and won for international feature and three more prizes.

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“There is a great director named Edward Berger,” Damon said. “[‘All Quiet on the Western Front’] is a fantastic film, and he’s wonderful and he said he had an idea [for Bourne]. I would love to work with him, so he’s working on it. Look, I’m as anxious as you are to see if this thing [happens] — I hope it’s great and that we can do it.”

“At a certain point somebody is going to need to take it over,” Damon added about the franchise. “I’m not getting any younger.”

Sources familiar with the new Bourne movie stressed to Variety last November that the film was in early development and any return to Bourne would be far into the future. There was no script written at the time nor a screenwriter even attached to the movie, thus it was impossible to know whether Damon or Renner (or both) would be back in action.

If the new Bourne movie does take off, then Berger will join an impressive lineup of the franchise’s directors, which include Doug Liman (2002’s “The Bourne Identity”), Paul Greengrass (2004’s “The Bourne Supremacy,” 2007’s “The Bourne Ultimatum” and 2016’s “Jason Bourne”) and Tony Gilroy (“The Bourne Legacy.”)

No further information about the new Bourne movie is known at this stage. Watch Damon’s full appearance on “The Late Show” in the video below.

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