Update: Variety says that Universal has denied this report. But could they be lying???

Earlier this month, Universal Pictures took the first step towards setting up a fifth installment in the Bourne franchise when they hired Anthony Peckham (Sherlock Holmes) to write a new script. At the time, it was being reported that the movie would continue the storyline from The Bourne Legacy with Jeremy Renner returning as Aaron Cross. While the news was not particularly surprising, it was hard to not feel disappointed that we would be getting another Bourne movie without Jason Bourne himself. But what if they could get both Matt Damon and Jeremy Renner together in one movie? That, my friends, would be a pretty big deal, and this week it sounds like may be closer to getting Matt Damon back than we originally thought.

According to Twitch, Universal is currently in “simultaneous negotiations with both Matt Damon and director Paul Greengrass for both to return to the Bourne franchise.” Matt Damon has always maintained that he would only do another Bourne movie if Paul Greengrass directed it, which means that they would both come as a package deal. But the thing that has been keeping Greengrass away has been screenwriter Tony Gilroy, who clashed with him on the previous films. The fact that Gilroy is not involved in the new movie seems like it has opened the door for Greengrass to return.

Neither had ever written off another Bourne movie, so it seems like there is a genuine possibility that this could actually happen. The big question is what this would mean for the Aaron Cross storyline. Supposedly the studio is not viewing it as an “either / or scenario”, so they could either merge both characters together into one movie or simply continue with two parallel movie series. Still, there is also the difficulty of figuring out where Jason Bourne’s story should go after The Bourne Ultimatum. Are you excited about a new Bourne movie with Paul Greengrass and Matt Damon? Where do you think they should take the franchise from here?