Jason Bourne is a 2016 American action thriller film co-produced and directed by Paul Greengrass, who co-wrote the script with Christopher Rouse. It is the fifth installment of the Bourne film series and a direct sequel to The Bourne Ultimatum (2007). Matt Damon reprises his role as the main character, former CIA assassin Jason Bourne, in addition to co-producing the film. In addition, the film stars Tommy Lee Jones, Alicia Vikander, Vincent Cassel, Riz Ahmed, Ato Essandoh, Scott Shepherd, and Julia Stiles who also reprises her role as Nicky Parsons. The film takes place twelve years after the events of Ultimatum and follows Bourne who remains on the run from CIA hit squads as he tries to uncover hidden truths about his father, while CIA director Robert Dewey (Jones) orders the head of cyber-security, Heather Lee (Vikander), to hunt him down.

Plans for a direct sequel to The Bourne Legacy (2012) starring Jeremy Renner were put on hold in favor of an official sequel to Ultimatum featuring the return of Damon as actor (and also producer) and Greengrass as director. Principal photography on the film commenced on September 8, 2015.

Jason Bourne premiered in London on July 11, 2016, and was theatrically released in the United States by Universal Pictures on July 29. The film received mixed reviews and was a box office success, grossing $416 million against a $120 million budget.

Plot

Twelve years after exposing Blackbriar, ex-CIA agent and Treadstone operative Jason Bourne is still tormented by flashbacks. He isolated himself from the world, making a living as a street fighter in Greece.

Meanwhile, in Reykjavík, former Treadstone technician Nicky Parsons, who has been collaborating with a hacktivist group led by Christian Dassault, hacks into the CIA's server to expose its black ops programs. She finds documents detailing Bourne's recruitment into Treadstone and his father's role in it; she travels to Athens to inform him.

Parsons' breach alerts Heather Lee, the CIA's cybersecurity operations division head, and CIA Director Robert Dewey. They send teams after Bourne and Parsons; Dewey also sends CIA assassin "The Asset", who was captured and tortured in Syria as an unintentional consequence of Bourne's exposure of Blackbriar.

Bourne and Parsons agree to meet at Syntagma Square in Athens during an anti-government protest. Bourne realizes the CIA is looking for both of them, so he fights off agents to keep them away from her. While he tries to keep her safe, Parsons is soon fatally shot by The Asset. Before dying, she gives Bourne the key to a locker holding the stolen CIA files.

Bourne, who wants answers about his past and family, locates and meets with Dassault in Berlin, who decrypts the files. Bourne discovers his father Richard Webb was a CIA analyst involved in the creation of Treadstone. Malware implanted in the files allows the CIA to locate him while Lee remotely erases them. Dassault attacks, but is ultimately incapacitated by Bourne.

Lee secretly alerts Bourne to the CIA team closing in. After seeing his behavior report, she believes he can be persuaded to return to the agency. Bourne avoids the team, then tracks down ex-Treadstone operative Malcolm Smith in London, arranging to meet him in Paddington Plaza.

Meanwhile, Lee persuades Dewey's boss, Director of National Intelligence Edwin Russell, to let her contact Bourne in person to try to bring him back in. Dewey, who opposes her plan, secretly instructs The Asset to eliminate Lee's team and him.

Bourne confronts Smith, who admits Webb helped create Treadstone. After Dewey sent agents to recruit Webb's son, David (i.e., Bourne), Webb threatened to expose the program to prevent him from becoming a CIA assassin. The Asset killed Webb under Dewey's orders in Beirut by staging what appeared to be a terrorist attack, which helped the CIA push Bourne into joining Treadstone.

The Asset interrupts and kills Smith when Bourne uses him as a human shield. Bourne escapes, then later locates Lee, who tells him that, for different reasons, they both want Dewey gone. She then directs him to a convention in Las Vegas.

Dewey is scheduled to attend a public debate with Aaron Kalloor, the CEO of social media giant Deep Dream. Kalloor is the public face of corporate social responsibility in the Internet age, but was secretly funded by Dewey in the startup stage.

Dewey intends to use Deep Dream for real-time mass surveillance alongside the latest incarnation of the CIA's targeted assassination "Beta" program, a more ruthless version of Blackbriar, in which the assassin can murder anyone to get to the target. However, Kalloor decides against giving the CIA access to Deep Dream. Dewey authorizes The Asset to assassinate both Kalloor and Lee after discovering that she is helping Bourne.

Bourne thwarts the assassinations, then fights through several CIA agents before eventually confronting Dewey in his suite. Dewey attempts to stage an ambush, but is killed by Lee. Bourne agrees to cover up her involvement, then pursues The Asset. They crash into the Riviera casino, eventually finding their way into the sewers, where their fight ends with Bourne killing The Asset.

Some time later, Lee volunteers herself to Russell as the new CIA director. She outlines her plan to bring Bourne back to the agency, noting that she is prepared to kill him if he refuses. Lee then meets face-to-face with Bourne, who says he will consider the offer. She returns to her car to find a tape of her conversation with Russell — Bourne had followed Lee and was aware of her true intentions during the face-to-face meeting. Then, Bourne disappears again.

Cast

Matt Damon as Jason Bourne, former assassin in the CIA's Operation Treadstone Tommy Lee Jones as CIA Director Robert Dewey Alicia Vikander as Heather Lee, head of the CIA Cyber Ops Division Vincent Cassel as the "Asset", a CIA assassin in Operation Blackbriar Julia Stiles as Nicky Parsons, former CIA agent Riz Ahmed as Aaron Kalloor, CEO of Deep Dream Ato Essandoh as Craig Jeffers, CIA agent and Dewey's right-hand man Scott Shepherd as Director NI Edwin Russell Bill Camp as Malcolm Smith, former CIA analyst Vinzenz Kiefer as Christian Dassault, leader of a group of privacy activists Stephen Kunken as Baumen, Kalloor's assistant Gregg Henry as Richard Webb, Jason Bourne's father and creator of the Treadstone program

Production

Development In May 2007, prior to the release of The Bourne Ultimatum, Matt Damon stated that he would not be interested in returning for a fourth Bourne film, remarking of his participation in the Bourne franchise: "We have ridden that horse as far as we can." Damon said in August 2007:

Instead The Bourne Legacy was released in the U.S. on August 10, 2012, with Jeremy Renner replacing Damon as the star. Despite receiving mixed reviews Universal noted that they planned to continue with the series, with Damon and Paul Greengrass later expressing interest in returning.

On September 15, 2014, it was announced that Damon and Greengrass would indeed return for the next Bourne film. In November 2014, Damon confirmed that he and Greengrass would return, with a script from themselves, with Christopher Rouse editing. On May 23, 2015, Deadline Hollywood reported that Alicia Vikander was in talks to star with Damon in the fifth film. On June 19, 2015, Deadline reported that Julia Stiles had confirmed she would be reprising the role of Nicky Parsons in the film, a character she had previously played in the first three films. Viggo Mortensen was in talks to play the villain role. On June 23, 2015, Vikander was confirmed to star in the sequel, while she was also in talks for the Assassin's Creed film, which she passed on. On July 28, 2015, Tommy Lee Jones joined the film's cast to play a senior CIA officer. On September 1, 2015, Vincent Cassel was cast in the film as an assassin who tracks Bourne. On September 15, 2015, The Hollywood Reporter confirmed that actor Ato Essandoh was cast in the film as an unspecified character. On October 20, 2015, Scott Shepherd was added to the cast to play the deputy director of the CIA. On November 4, 2015, Variety confirmed that Riz Ahmed had signed on to play the role of a tech specialist working with the CIA.

Filming Principal photography on the film commenced on September 8, 2015. In late November 2015, filming took place in Kreuzberg, Berlin. In early December 2015, filming started in Washington, D.C., where shooting took place at Constitution Gardens. Filming in Las Vegas, Nevada was scheduled to begin on January 14, 2016, lasting until January 21. Filming also took place at stages F and H at Leavesden Studios. The Leavesden set was used as the CIA hub space in the film. Production on the film concluded on February 1, 2016.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack to Jason Bourne, as composed by John Powell and David Buckley, and additional music by Batu Sener, was released digitally on July 29, 2016, by Back Lot Music. A new version of Moby's "Extreme Ways", entitled "Extreme Ways (Jason Bourne)", was recorded for the film's end credits.

Release On January 6, 2015, Universal set the film's United States release date as July 29, 2016. The first trailer for the film aired on February 7, 2016, during Super Bowl 50 and revealed the title of the film. The film was released in the United Kingdom on July 27, 2016.

Home media Jason Bourne was released on Digital HD and on Blu-ray/DVD December 6, 2016, by Universal Pictures Home Entertainment.

Reception

Box office Jason Bourne became a commercial success, with a modest budget compared to its final gross. The film grossed $162.2million domestically, and $254million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $416.2million, against a budget of $120million.

The film passed the $400 million threshold on October 7, making it the second film in the Bourne franchise to reach this milestone and the second-highest-grossing film in the series behind The Bourne Ultimatum. Worldwide, the film opened at number one in 50 markets, scoring the biggest debut in the franchise in 53 markets. In 51 territories, Jason Bourne is the highest-grossing film in the franchise. It is the third highest-grossing film of 2016 (behind Warcraft and The Mermaid) that is not about comic book superheroes nor anthropomorphic animals (including The Jungle Book).

United States and Canada In the United States and Canada, Jason Bourne was projected to gross $50–60 million in its opening weekend. It made $4.2 million from Thursday night previews at 2,928 theaters which began at 7:00pm, becoming the first film in the series to earn above $1 million from previews, although the other four films' screenings began at midnight. On its opening day, it grossed $22.8 million, which is the second biggest opening day of the series behind The Bourne Ultimatum ($24.6 million). It topped the box office in its opening weekend as expected with a $59.2 million opening, making it one of the few franchise titles from 2016 to open on par with its predecessor. It is the second biggest opening for the franchise as well as for Damon, just behind the $69 million debut of The Bourne Ultimatum in 2007. The film dropped by 71% on its second Friday ($6.5 million) as a result of the release of the superhero film Suicide Squad, falling to No. 2 behind that film. By comparison, the last four Bourne movies all dropped (respectively) 46%, 59%, 57% and 61% on their second Fridays. It spent its first five weeks in the Top 10 at the domestic box office.

Other territories