More news from the shuffle to find a new lead for the Bourne movies: Joel Edgerton is the latest name to drop into the rumor mill. According to Vulture, Bourne Legacy director Tony Gilroy hopes to sign the Australian actor for the lead in the flick. Once more for clarification: the role is not Jason Bourne, it’s a man named Martin who is part of a “Treadstone-like project.”
Anyway, even though Gilroy is down, it’s not that simple. After Hugh Jackman turned down the lead role in Snow White and the Huntsman, Universal set out to find another man for the job. They’re eying Edgerton for that role as well. As Vulture already noted, his lack of international fame wouldn’t present as much of a gamble here because Kristen Stewart and Charlize Theron are already shouldering that burden. With Bourne, Edgerton would essentially be carrying the film on his own not-so-famous shoulders. The studio is also trying to get this Hunstman role cast as soon as possible so that filming can get underway over the summer. So what does this mean? Well, if Edgerton gets the Huntsman role, he won’t be able to take the Bourne role.
And if that happens, we’re back to speculationland. There we find rumors of James McAvoy and Shia LeBeouf as the Bourne-less Bourne flick leads, as they are at the top of the studio’s list. Then again, we’ve heard plenty of names thrown around this project from all different genres, talent levels and fame levels. With all these different types, it would seem that Universal hasn’t yet figured out what sort of hero they’re looking for, which would make a lot of sense. How do you make a Bourne-less Bourne flick while still drawing existing fans and brand new ones? That’s one hell of an order, for sure.
Source: Vulture
