Why Tony Gilroy Returned To Helm Bourne Legacy, His Children Of Men Inspiration, And Writing Romance On The Run
Tony Gilroy's tumultuous history with the Jason Bourne franchise is, as he calls it, "well-documented." But after penning or co-scripting the first three Matt Damon-starring spy pics in the series — navigating a maelstrom of widely reported behind the scenes beefs, including Damon's snipe last year at Gilroy's Bourne Ultimatum script — the writer-director was lured back to this weekend's The Bourne Legacy by the opportunity to create a new secret agent (Jeremy Renner) to build insidious political conspiracies and impossible action sequences and existential questions around. "In a strange way," he tells Movieline, "I felt more of a personal connection with this character than I ever felt with Jason Bourne."
Prior to Gilroy coming aboard The Bourne Legacy, which introduces Renner's highly-skilled agent Aaron Cross as Jason Bourne's gentler, funnier, and more genetically-modified contemporary (Chems! He needs chems!), Universal and author Robert Ludlum's estate were in a bind to find a new, fresh way to continue the lucrative spy franchise. Gilroy, who had left the series behind to helm his own Michael Clayton and Duplicity — and up to that point, he admits, had never even seen the Paul Greengrass-directed The Bourne Ultimatum — took a polite coffee meeting, which turned into a few weeks' worth of scripting help, which in turn rekindled his interest in the property so much so he signed on to direct.
The result is a Bourne "sidequel" that runs parallel to the events of Ultimatum but follows new hero Renner as he and Rachel Weisz's comely, brainy scientist Dr. Marta Shearing evade a government burn-down of their top secret Outcome program. The action takes the pair from the labs to the woods of Maryland to the streets of Manila, through an assortment of set pieces…
Ana Ivanovi Ana Paula Lemes Ananda Lewis Angela Marcello Angelina Jolie Anna Faris Anna Friel Anna Kournikova