If you’ve been wondering how director Tony Gilroy was going to be linking his new film, The Bourne Legacy, to the previous Bourne trilogy films now that titular star Matt Damon has left the franchise, we’ve got your answer.
Joan Allen and Albert Finney are both in talks to reprise their Bourne Ultimatum characters and helping to bridge the gap between the earlier films and this new one. Allen played CIA Deputy Director Pamela Landy, who initially was assigned to help hunt down Damon’s amnesiac rogue assassin only to become his ally in taking down Treadstone, the rogue CIA operation he had been a part of. Finney will be reprising his role of Dr. Albert Hirsch, the one responsible for creating the fake personas that Bourne and others were implanted with for their illegal missions.
Given that Bourne Legacy’s star Jeremy Renner will be playing another agent who went through the Treadstone operation, I suspect that Finney’s role will be somewhat integral to the plot.
Also just signed to the cast is Oscar Isaac as a fellow agent who has gone through the program and is known only by the mysterious name of Number Three. Isaac had been in contention for Legacy’s lead role but lost to Renner.
Previously cast in the film are Rachel Weisz and Edward Norton. Gilroy is also penning the screenplay, having drafted all the previous Bourne films. Shooting begins later this fall for an expected August 2012 release.
