Empire caught up with the delightful, and delightfully shaggy-haired, Paul Greengrass recently and the director dropped a couple of tidbits on what to expect of his next film with Matt Damon, Imperial Life in the Emerald City.
Imperial Life... is based on the book Imperial Life In The Emerald City: Inside Iraq's Green Zone by Rajiv Chandrasekeran, which takes a critical look at the Americans leading the efforts to reconstruct Iraq after the capture of Saddam Hussein. Chandrasekeran, a former Baghdad bureau chief, details the shortcomings of the Coalition Provisional Authority and the wider US government who failed to transfer power to the Iraqi people and inspired growing insurgency in the country.
"Is it a very different sensibility to Bourne? I don't know, we haven't made it yet," Greengrass said. "I'm certainly very pleased with it. It's much more me, and about things I love to do. It's about exploring the world we live in and it will be a very good time".
Greengrass also said that the film will begin shooting in January. He wouldn't be drawn on exactly what character Damon would play, but it sounds like we're very much getting Greengrass wearing serious hat here, with this probably being a very good companion piece to United 93.