Frankly I'm amazed that the announcement for a fourth Bourne movie wouldn't get a little more fanfare than buried half way down an article. In a press release in Variety, Universal announced that Matt Damon and director Paul Greengrass will be returning for a new installment of the Bourne franchise. Originally, when the two were peppered with questions about a fourth film, they had the stock answer that Damon would only reprise his role if Greengrass returned to direct, and Greengrass would only return to direct if Damon was willing to star. Confused? Don't be, it was basically the PR equivalent of keeping the idea of a film on the back-burner without promising anything too specific.

Universal released the info in a release about their upcoming slate of films, and according to them both Damon and Greengrass are definitely returning to work together on the spy franchise. There are two books left in the Bourne series, so at least there would be some source material to start with. The two are currently working on the Iraq drama, The Green Zone, and Damon has already signed to star in The Informant for Steven Soderberg and is also in talks to star in The Human Factor for Clint Eastwood. Greengrass is also going to be busy with his upcoming Vietnam drama, They Marched into Sunlight. So it could be as late as 2010, before the two can even get started on making another Bourne flick, let alone get one into the theaters. However, with Bourne Ultimatum taking home three Oscars last night (three!), I imagine the fourth flick might be made a priority. For Universal's sake, I hope this one is a done deal. I can't help but think how embarrassing it must have been for MGM's Harry Sloan when his studio got a little overzealous about a certain spy franchise.

[via Empire]

Dang, there sure are a lot of hitman characters in the movies. And what's the difference between a hitman and an assassin, anyway? Does Jason Bourne count, or is he no longer a hitman/assassin by the time his cinematic story begins? Are Pulp Fiction's Vincent and Jules really hitmen or are they technically bagmen? Yeah, it's a difficult task to make a list of prominent hitmen in film. So, I'll let someone else make a "25 Greatest Hitmen" list; here, I present my seven favorites.

Feel free to mention your own preferences. With so many characters, whether easily falling within definition or not, I'm certainly leaving out a lot of good ones. But, as I said, these are my favorites. The cool, the funny, the interesting, they're the ones I enjoy watching over and over again, despite their lethal nature.


Martin Q. Blank in Grosse Pointe Blank (1997, George Armitage)

There is no better hitman than John Cusack's Martin Blank. He's good at his job, and he's funny, and he's willing to give it all up for love. Of course, he's bored enough by the occupation that he'd probably give it up for any good reason. It doesn't seem to matter to him that it's morally wrong; he's just another normal guy, dissatisfied with his job. And while it does seem to be a gag that's stretched thin, his issues do make him more entertaining than the usual silent-yet-conflicted hitmen. Plus, it's enjoyable to think that this is what really happened to Lloyd Dobbler, or Lane Meyer, or any other Cusack character from the '80s.

Signature line: "I was hired to kill you, but I'm not going to do it. It's either because I'm in love with your daughter or because I have a new found respect for life."

Alright, all you movie hounds. We know you've spent all summer watching the endless slew of sequels, from Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End to Shrek the Third, from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix to The Bourne Ultimatum, from Spider-Man 3 to Rush Hour 3 -- it's been one long, hot, summer. But how well do you know your movie sequel history? Over at the Guardian, they have a nifty little quiz up with questions that will test your sequel mettle. I scored 70% on the first pass, not too bad, I guess (hey some of the questions are a little tricky, I'm not that up on my Leonard Part 6). Go check it out, then let us know how you did.

Now here's a little movie sequel pop quiz for you: Can you put the three stills of each of these series in order?



More after the jump ...

James Bond -- when played by Sean Connery, Pierce Brosnan and now Daniel Craig (and a bit less so when played by Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton and George Lazenby) -- has long been the gold stanard by which all other cinematic spies have been judged. He's smooth, aloof, quick-witted and charming. Guys want to be like him and women with names like Pussy Galore want to sleep with him. But these days, 007 has some serious competition from a more reserved, grittier and -- dare we say -- more likeable amnesiac spy named Jason Bourne (Matt Damon).

When The Bourne Identity came along in 2002, it pretty much reinvented the action-spy genre, placing its hero, Jason Bourne, squarely in the real world (where things like Bond's invisible car do not exist) and dealing with the unheard of (in the Bond world, at least) issues of moral accountability, character metamorphosis and even vulnerability. Clearly influenced by his neophyte rival, a new Bond was born in 2006's Casino Royale, with Daniel Craig stepping into the tux of a more down-to-earth, relatable and gadget-free 007. Even so, the gap between these two men remains enormous.

From the cars they drive to the villains they battle to the way they fight to the women they bed, Moviefone compares the two most badass spies ever to grace a movie screen in a Jason Bourne vs. James Bond gallery. Check it out and then tell us: Who do you think is the more super spy?

Can an action film also be a work of art? That's one of the questions raised by The Bourne Ultimatum, Paul Greengrass's third installment in the thriller series starring Matt Damon as Jason Bourne, an ex-assassin on a mission to discover a personal history obliterated by amnesia and clouded by years on the run. Bourne's past memories are fragmentary; his present-tense instincts are rock-solid. He can't tell you his real name or hometown, but he can field-strip a gun without looking at it, find a way out of any trap, hotwire a car with less effort than it would take the owner to find, insert and turn the key. But these killing skills can't get him to the center of his shattered life -- who he was, what he did.

And The Bourne Ultimatum does have elements of art: Political and social resonance, visual and linguistic symbolism, references to the world the films have shown us and the world outside of it, rich characters with fully-developed personalities. It also has all the elements of the modern action thriller -- how'd-they-do-that stunt work, crazy-fast fight action, tautly-wound scene construction that culminates in moments that leave you breathless. The Bourne Ultimatum picks up precisely where The Bourne Supremacy (also directed by Greengrass) left off -- Bourne, wounded and alone, is in Moscow. He's just atoned to the daughter of two of his victims -- killed not in the name of national security or the public good, but rather for private gain. Bourne's work was a secret -- but Simon Ross (Paddy Considine), a journalist for The Guardian has been running pieces about Bourne's work and Treadstone, the black ops group he worked for. Bourne would like to know who Ross's source is. So would the people who are trying to re-start Treadstone under the new name Blackbriar, to make it "... the sharp end of the stick ..." in America's arsenal.

In franchise-mad modern Hollywood, it's become a tradition unto itself: Whenever you have a new installment of a series coming to theaters, the prior films will be re-released on DVD. With The Bourne Ultimatum hitting theaters August 3rd, Universal's released a three-disc set, The Bourne Files, that collectively packages The Bourne Identity (2002) and The Bourne Supremacy (2004) along with a new disc of extras. There are two questions raised by any set like this -- namely, 'Do the films hold up?' and 'Are the extras worth it?'

The first question's easily answered: Yes. The Bourne films were perfectly-timed: James Bond, our number-one screen icon of espionage action, had descended into a sickly morass of high-tech high camp that made his adventures closer to the high-flying exploits of Batman or Wonder Woman (Die Another Day's invisible car, for example) than the down-to-the-ground espionage action of the character's roots. Directed by Doug Liman from a script by Tony Gilroy, The Bourne Identity was so grim and gray and wrapped in cynicism that it immediately stood out in contrast against the bright, light gloss of the Bond series. The Bourne Identity started with a hook that stuck for the duration of the film: A man is pulled from the sea. He has no memory. He wants to find out who he is. He learns that he was not necessarily a good person -- and that others want him dead. Played by Matt Damon, Jason Bourne wasn't a bulletproof superhero; he was a human being with armed with instincts and training and pure will, capable of doing whatever was required to survive.

In a summer laden with big-budget, CGI-heavy action movies, there is only one film whose protagonist can say, "I beat the crap out of a man using a rolled-up magazine." As you may have guessed, that man is Jason Bourne (Matt Damon), the impossible-to-kill hero of this August's The Bourne Ultimatum. We have an exclusive first look at the brand-new poster below (click on the image for a larger version).

Directed by Paul Greengrass (United 93, The Bourne Supremacy), this is likely to be the last chapter in the already legendary Bourne saga. This time around, expect another kickass car chase (the franchise is known for them) and a whole lot more of the visceral, gritty, realistic action that sets the Bourne movies apart from so many other films in the genre. As the poster's tag line suggests, Ultimatum will also see everyone's favorite amnesiac spy experience a little something known as "total recall." And from the looks of the trailer, that is not going to be a good thing for the bad guys.

For whatever reason, the other day my friend and I were watching Mission Impossible III. I had only seen it once in the theater, and remembered digging it, so we decided to throw it on the boob tube (in glorious HD) to take in another screening. During one of the many Tom Cruise jokes we were cracking ('Remember when this movie came out, and they said Cruise could run, like, 40mph?'), we started talking about what it would look like if the character of Ethan Hunt was brought into another franchise. I immediately thought it might be fun to merge the Bourne franchise and the Mission Impossible franchise -- ya know, make it so Ethan Hunt's next mission is to track down Jason Bourne (Matt Damon). For some reason (I dunno, maybe it was one too many birthday cocktails), I thought that would be a swell idea. Of course, my friend was adamant about James Bond also making an appearance; if only to pop into one scene to go, "Hey, I'm British." The Bourne Impossible 4: Things Get Tougher. Anyone? Anyone?

It was during that conversation where we began to discuss what other franchise cross-overs would look cool on the big screen. Of course, we already have a Freddy vs. Jason movie, and the Alien vs. Predator franchise is about to churn out another one of those flicks, but there have to be other characters that you'd like to see meet on screen for the first time. Heck, if it were up to me, I'd throw Superman, Batman and Spider-Man in the same film -- but make it a romantic comedy -- and work in a premise that has all three superheroes fighting over the same girl. Killer! Or, how about a film that teams up John McClane and Axel Foley? We could call it Die You Filthy Beverly Hills Cop. Oh man, I'm such a genius.

So, I ask you: Which franchise cross-overs would you like to see happen? And don't worry about which studio owns what, just have fun with it.

If it were up to Frank Marshall, Jason Bourne would never learn who he really is. According to the producer, when it's all said and done, we may be in store for a total of five Bourne-related films...although it appears Matt Damon has everything to do with that decision.

Speaking with MTV, Marshall admitted, "it's kinda up to Matt Damon." On how far the franchise could go, he says, "Maybe to five [films]...At some point, he's gotta find out who he is." Says who? The way I see it, Jason Bourne could be the next James Bond.

Currently, The Bourne Ultimatum is preparing to begin production later this summer with a tentative release one year later in 2007. After that, Marshall said that writers will be brought on to come up with storylines that will continue the series. I'm curious to see, once we're away from the books, whether or not this franchise will self-destruct. What do you think?

[via Coming Soon]

Robert Ludlum is quite the hot property in Hollywood these days - it's just too bad that he's not around to enjoy his own success. In addition to being used as the sources for the wildly popular (not to mention totally awesome) Bourne series, his novels have recently been picked up for a TV miniseries and the upcoming Leonardo DiCaprio vehicle, The Chancellor Manuscript. And, just this morning, The Hollywood Reporter tells us that Universal - the home of the Bourne films - has acquired up yet another book for adaptation.

The Sigma Protocol is about an American economist who finds himself targeted for assassination. "When a U.S. intelligence agent investigating his case finds herself discredited, the two end up on the run and uncover a vast multinational conspiracy manipulating the global economy and world events." Sweet - vast multinational conspiracies are box office gold. The movie will be written and directed by Venezuela's Jonathan Jakubowicz, whose feature work to this point  - including last year's Secuestro Express, which was his home country's highest grossing film of all time - has all been in Spanish.

Though no timeline for the film has yet been set, it's safe to assume that late 2006/early 2007 is going to feature a whole lotta Ludlum.