The Bourne Identity made a huge splash at the box office, and its massive success was due in no small part to its director, Doug Liman.
However, reported clashes during production between Liman and the studio led to Paul Greengrass taking over directing duties for the two sequels that followed.
The franchise went on to spawn a sequel and a spin-off. The Tony Gilroy-directed fourth instalment, The Bourne Legacy, released in 2012, saw Matt Damon replaced in the lead role with Jeremy Renner as a character named Aaron Cross. 2016’s Jason Bourne saw Damon and Greengrass return.
While speaking to Doug Liman about his new film, American Made, FANDOM took the opportunity to ask the director how he felt about the Bourne sequels.
“I stayed on as a producer [for Supremacy and Ultimatum],” he began. “I really told the story I wanted to tell in The Bourne Identity. In fact, it was very much connected to my father’s work investigating Iran-Contra, so American Made takes me right back to that same place.”
American Made tells the incredible true story of Barry Seal, a pilot recruited by the CIA who became embroiled in one of modern US history’s most scandalous cover-ups. Unbelievably, Liman’s father ran the investigation into the affair. And when Liman, Jr. picked up the reins on The Bourne Identity, he took inspiration from his father’s real-life dealings and embedded them into his movie.
But while he relinquished control of the second and third films to Greengrass, those aren’t the films he has a problem with.
“I think Paul’s an extraordinary director and I think the first three, the ones that I mapped out… I’m super proud of my film and the two that followed,” he said before adding: “And I’d be lying if I didn’t say I was a little disappointed with where it went from there.”
American Made hits screens in the UK on August 25 and in the US on September 29.