The Bourne Legacy (film)

The Bourne Legacy (film)

The Bourne Legacy is a 2012 American action thriller film directed by Tony Gilroy. The Bourne films are based on Robert Ludlum's Jason Bourne novels. The Bourne Legacy is the fourth installment in the series. The film stars Jeremy Renner, Rachel Weisz, and Edward Norton.

Titular character Jason Bourne does not appear in The Bourne Legacy, because actor Matt Damon, who played Bourne in the first three films, chose not to return for a fourth film. However, there are various pictures of Damon as Bourne shown throughout the film and his name is mentioned several times. Gilroy, co-screenwriter of the first three films, sought to continue the story of the film series without changing its events, and parts of The Bourne Legacy take place at the same time as the previous film The Bourne Ultimatum (2007).

In The Bourne Legacy, Aaron Cross, a member of a black ops program whose agents are genetically enhanced, goes on the run once Bourne's actions lead to the public exposure of Operations Treadstone and Blackbriar. Filming was primarily in New York, with some scenes shot in the Philippines, South Korea, and Canada. It was theatrically released on August 10, 2012, in the United States.

With permission from the estate of Robert Ludlum, Eric Van Lustbader has continued writing Jason Bourne novels from where Ludlum left off in The Bourne Ultimatum. Although this film has the same title, The Bourne Legacy, as his first Bourne novel, the screenplay bears no resemblance to the novel which features Jason Bourne as the principal character.