Dre Rivas,
May 30, 2007
Matt Damon recently announced that as far as he's concerned, the Bourne franchise is finito. Universal will probably have something to say about that and offer him a gazillion dollars for another Bourne movie and you never know ... a few flops in his system and he might change his tune down the line; not that Damon is the sellout type (his name is Matt Damon, not Matt Affleck).
Either way, I see someone taking over the role of Jason Bourne eventually. I've been thinking about who that might be and I've come up with five solid candidates.
Clive Owen
Everyone wanted him to play Bond, why not Bourne? Shave off the English accent, give him a nice crew-cut and bada-beep-bada-boop-bada-bop, you have Jason Bourne: Rebooted. Okay, an older Jason Bourne, perhaps. But this could be the Never Say Never Again of the series. Bourne is older, has his identity back and is now settled down with the fam. But everyone time he thinks he's out, they pull him back in!. Editor's Note: As it turns out Clive Owen was an agent in The Bourne Identity... meaning it would be prequel OR a little odd to start him off as the next Jason Bourne. Silly Dre!
Mark Wahlberg
Consider Shooter his
audition. I didn't see it, but how bad could he have been? Anyone? (Editor's note: Dre, no one in the world saw Shooter. Sorry.)
Ryan Gosling
This is probably Universal's best bet. He'd be inexpensive to start with - a nice plus for the poor, struggling suits at the studio. The guy is a serious actor who'd only sign on if there was a great script at the project's core and that's good news for fans of the franchise. This is the way to go ladies and gents.
Leonardo DiCaprio
You know I had to throw Leo's name out there. There was a period of time where it seemed Damon ambulance-chased the roles Leo turned down. Leo is offered All The Pretty Horses, Damon does Pretty Horses. Leo is offered The Talented Mr. Ripley, Damon does Ripley. After co-starring in last year's The Departed, maybe they're in line for a little role-reversal.
Christian Bale
You want intensity? I'll give you intensity. Can you imagine what Bale would be capable of if he was commanding big franchise dollars out of both the Batman and Bourne franchises? Me neither, but I know what I'd do. You got it, I'd buy Dollywood! Yo Bale, I'll catch you on the Smokey Mountain Wilderness Adventure Tour!
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Dre writes three times a week for Film.com, covering Movies and DVD with his Floridian flare.
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