Jason Bourne Producers Want Matt Damon to Keep Making Bourne Movies Forever

It might have taken Matt Damon nearly a decade to return to the Bourne series, but the franchise's producers have no intention of letting him leave. Jason Bourne hits theaters next week, and Universal boss Donna Langley has revealed that she hopes to keep the star and director Paul Greengrass involved in the franchise.

Speaking to the New York Times, Langley was very clear about her intentions for the series. "Even though Matt and Paul had been very definitive about not wanting to come back, we weren't really willing to submit to that," she said. "Look, here's what I think the goal is: to keep Matt Damon and Paul Greengrass doing Bourne movies till they can’t do them anymore."

Damon and Greengrass collaborated on the second and third films in the series--2004's The Bourne Supremacy and 2007's The Bourne Ultimatum. In 2012, an attempt was made to reboot the series with Jeremy Renner in the lead role, but The Bourne Legacy was both a critical and commercial disappointment.

In the NY Times feature, Damon talks about being persuaded to return to the action franchise. "At a certain point, I said to Paul, 'People really want to see this movie, and that's not something to turn our noses up at," he said. "Having made movies that didn't find an audience, I didn't want to thumb our nose at this opportunity."

"It's this weird thing where you can't give them exactly the same thing, or they'll be resentful," Damon continued. "But you have to give them enough of something they recognize that they feel like they're getting what they paid for."

Jason Bourne is released on July 29, 2016. It also stars Vincent Cassell, Julia Stiles, Alicia Vikander, and Tommy Lee Jones.

For more coverage of the film check out:

• You Might Talk More During Jason Bourne Than Matt Damon Does
• New Jason Bourne TV Spot Teases Sinister "Iron Hand"
• Matt Damon Tears Up Las Vegas in New Jason Bourne Clips
• Watch Jason Bourne's Thrilling First Full Trailer