The Jason Bourne film franchise will live on with a NEW Bourne character that will be introduced in a new film titled The Bourne Legacy … a character that will be played by Academy Award-nominated actor Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker, The Town). There has been much talk in recent months about getting Matt Damon to reprise the role of Jason Bourne for a new series of films but, apparently, that plan fell by the wayside. The franchise will be rebooted with a new character and a new lead actor in Renner. Read below for the known deets about this new Bourne franchise.

The search is over. Universal Pictures has formally offered Jeremy Renner the lead role in the Tony Gilroy-directed The Bourne Legacy. Renner, who has been nominated for Oscars the past two years for his work in The Hurt Locker and The Town, is expected to sign on quickly to play a new character in the spinoff film that begins production in September. Like the Jason Bourne character played by Matt Damon in the first three The Bourne Identity thrillers, Renner will play an operative from a covert government program that is even more dangerous than the Treadstone brainwashing program that hatched Bourne. Renner was one of the names rumored as the studio went through two cycles of tests over eight weeks to find the right guy. That decision was made [Thursday]. Even though Renner plays an operative in the upcoming Mission: Impossible-Ghost Protocol, the studio felt clearly that he was in a position similar to where Damon was when his career took off with Bourne. Renner is not a kid, but he is really hitting his stride and poised to become a big star after numerous strong performances.

Brilliant … perfect casting. As much as I love the Jason Bourne films, starring Matt Damon, I think Jeremy Renner will make an EXCELLENT replacement. I absolutely agree with producers that Renner is hitting his stride in Hollywood and this is the perfect vehicle for him to break out even more. He will be featured in the upcoming superhero film The Avengers (as Hawkeye) and, as mentioned above, alongside Tom Cruise in the new Mission: Impossible sequel so he is deffo in a great place professionally. With Jeremy Renner on board, I am now very much looking forward to a new generation of Bourne films … are you?

[Source]