Matt Damon on Why It Took So Long for a New Bourne Movie
— -- You asked for it, you got it!
Matt Damon has finally answered the call from fans with an all-new installment of his hit "Jason Bourne" franchise hitting theaters today.
It’s been nine years since the last film in the series starring Damon was released. So, what took so long?
“We didn’t have a story. We loved the franchise too. And we loved to work together,” Damon told ABC News, speaking of director Paul Greengrass. “But it was people coming up that eventually kind of pushed us over. We were on the phone. I’ll never forget. We both realized how humbling it was to have people continually saying, ‘Please do it.’”
That fan loyalty, coupled with a hot new script, sealed the deal.
“'Bourne Ultimatum' came out in 2007. And we sat down in 2014 and started to talk about how the world had changed and just made a list. And it was alarming in seven years how much had happened,” Damon, 45, told ABC News' Peter Travers. “So, we went, 'Okay, this is a completely different world that we’re living in. And a completely different world we can run the character through. And alright, there’s enough to make a movie about here.'”
But during that downtime between Bourne films, Damon has certainly not been resting on his laurels. He squeezed in time for “The Martian” and was nominated for an Academy Award. It’s the only one of his movies his 10-year-old daughter has ever seen.
“'The Martian' was the first one because a bunch of my 10–year-old friends saw 'The Martian' and were talking to her about it in school,” Damon said. “And I was on the fence about whether or not 10 was too young. But then I started to talk to all of these other parents and their kids were completely fine with it. And so I sat down with my 10-year-old and we put it on. And I talked her through the stitching up my stomach sequence at the beginning and the swear words,” Damon joked. “They’ve slipped out of dad’s mouth once or twice at home so she was okay with that.”
Damon added that he has also used the time between Bourne films to get in some quality family time.
“It’s been a really busy couple of years of work. And between my family and my work and then I have the foundation Water.org -- those kind of three things are what really divide my time and there’s not much room right now for much else,” he said. “Also because the kids are young. And in a few years they’re gonna stop wanting me around.”
“Jason Bourne” hits theaters everywhere today.
