Paul Greengrass was on hand at last night’s Sony Ericsson Empire Awards, and when we spoke to him about his upcoming plan post-**United 93 **(formerly known as Flight 93), which he’s about to finish, he has three words for us: The Bourne Ultimatum.
The third film in the Bourne series has long been rumoured to have Greengrass back in the driver’s seat, but he has now told us that he is doing it – and here’s what he had to say. “We’ve got a script and we’re underway. It’s a new story, completely different from the novel. It was written by Tony Gilroy and Tom Stoppard. It’s going to have all the excitement you’d expect from a Bourne film and all the intensity you’d expect from a Bourne story. I can’t wait – it’s just going to be fuckin’ fantastic.
But, ever eager to get the scoop, we pressed him to find out what artistic direction the story is going to take.
”It’s going to rock. That’s honestly what it’s going to do. What direction? We’ll have a better car chase, have more exciting action, more intensity and just generally be a fuckin’ classy film. I think Matt Damon’s looking forward to it like I am. It’s going to be an absolute laugh.”
And does he have any worries about the fact that Bond is back in a grittier, younger form?
”Well, you know what they say? Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. That’s honestly what I think. I think there’s a big difference between James Bond and Jason Bourne. I think James Bond is the secret agent who likes being a secret agent and likes killing people. He’s a misogynist, an old-fashioned imperialist, and Jason Bourne is an outsider on the run and he’s one of us and he’s fighting against them, I think. That’s the profound difference, and that’s why I like Bourne.”
Ladies and gentlemen, you heard it here first.
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