No Damon for Bourne 4… and No Jason Bourne, either?!?

Well, it’s official. To follow up my post from last week, it’s been revealed that Tony Gilroy, writer/director of the upcoming fourth Bourne film, The Bourne Legacy, has revealed that the film will NOT feature Matt Damon. Furthermore, the film will not even include Jason Bourne! Find out how exactly that’s supposed to work after the jump.

According to Gilroy, “This is not a reboot or a recast or a prequel. No one’s replacing Matt Damon. There will be a whole new hero, a whole new chapter…this is a stand-alone project… Jason Bourne will not be in this film, but he’s very much alive. What happened in the first three films is the trigger for what happens.”

Suddenly I’m having flashbacks to Trail of the Pink Panther. Didn’t catch that one, did you? You’re lucky. Trail of the Pink Panther was released in 1982. Nothing wrong with that on the surface, except that it was two years after Peter Sellers, who played lead character Inspector Clouseau, died. The “film” therefore consisted of various outtakes from the previous films in the series along with footage of a reporter “looking” for Clouseau. The end result was so poor that Sellers’ wife sued the filmmakers for insulting the memory of her dearly departed husband… and won!

Simply put, I don’t know what’s worse — recasting Jason Bourne (like James Bond), or having his character not even appear in the film series named after him. Some have questioned why the film is even being labeled a Bourne film after this development, although a look at the franchise’s box office receipts will quickly answer that question.

Of course, there’s always the chance that some here-to-now unmentioned Bourne sibling is the star. Watch out for Billy Bourne, Jason’s long lost brother! Or even Monica Bourne, Jason’s long lost sister! That approach worked so well for… well, nevermind.

Let’s see what our readers think… any interest in seeing a Bourne film without Matt Damon in it? How about a Bourne film without Jason Bourne in it?