There's always been a theme when it comes to titles of Bourne movies - specifically, they all begin with 'The Bourne' - so when the title for the fifth film in the franchise was revealed as Jason Bourne, many were surprised at the bucking of the trend.
Speaking to Empire at the Jameson Empire Awards, Matt Damon admitted that "we talked about calling it The Bourne Something, but I think the idea was to separate this film from the others, because so much time has passed since we did one."
"Ours are really about identity, and the guy’s search for identity, and at the end of the third one, he says ‘I’m no longer Jason Bourne’. So without giving too much away, the new one starts with the implications of that: okay, then who is he? What is this identity that’s just sitting out there unclaimed? What does it mean? I think the title will make more sense when you see the movie, but it felt right because it felt pertinent to the story we were telling and also different from the others – in the right way. A decade has passed..."
I was among those who were unimpressed with Bourne 5's title, but I was a massive fan of the brief super bowl teaser (in which Bourne knocks a guy out with one punch!). I would have liked to have seen 'The Bourne' trend continue, but in its own way Damon's reasoning makes sense and it will be interesting to see how the film's events reflect its title.
Directed by Paul Greengrass and starring Matt Damon, Alicia Vikander, Julia Stiles, Vincent Cassel, Tommy Lee Jones, and Riz Ahmed, Jason Bourne is released in UK cinemas on July 28, 2016 before opening in US theatres a day later on July 29, 2016.
Images: Universal Pictures
