It’s become clear in the last six months or so that Matt Damon’s comments towards the release of The Bourne Ultimatum that he was done with the franchise were a little premature and that opinions have changed since then. Probably the critical acclaim for the last movie and the $442 million the movie made worldwide had something to do with it.

We keep hearing little hints about a fourth movie being closer to a reality than we would have previously guessed and now IESB have got their hands on some solid quotes from the franchise producers that they hope the film to be in theatres by 2010.

They even give us a possible release date and plot…

“Absolutely. Hopefully we will be shooting next summer for release in 2010. There was a fourth book written, but it was not by Mr. Ludlum. So we’re probably going to take our own direction and we’re working on what that storyline’s gonna be right now.”

Interesting and it sounds like they are ditching that fourth Bourne novel written by Eric Van Lustbader titled The Bourne Legacy. The producers even state that they expect Bourne to travel to South America for the next movie.

After three movies, the franchise is now at a point where it’s clearly in it’s own universe and doesn’t need guidance from source material no longer. Yes, any future movie will obviously stay close to the character and tone of what Robert Ludlum created but this series is now much more about Paul Greengrass and what he and the producers feel is the characters next big move.

The Bourne Ultimatum was easily the best summer blockbuster of 2007 and Damon has just got better and better with each outing. If they finished it now, they might just have one of the more perfect trilogies in the history of cinema. However, that ending of the last movie makes you crave more… doesn’t it?