In an unlikely turn of events, it appears that Matt Damon will be reprising his role as Jason Bourne for the next installment in the Bourne Identity franchise, and director Paul Greengrass will be joining him.

Greengrass directed Damon in the second and third parts of the original Bourne trilogy, 2004’s The Bourne Supremacy and 2007’s The Bourne Ultimatum (Doug Liman directed the original Bourne Identity in 2002). The duo departed the series after the trilogy was complete, opening the door for The Avengers star Jeremy Renner to step into the franchise as Aaron Cross in 2012’s The Bourne Legacy, which was directed by series writer Tony Gilroy.

The original plan was for Renner’s spinoff movie to get a sequel in 2016 directed by Justin Lin, but now the opportunity to bring Damon back has presented itself and Universal has jumped at the opportunity, apparently aiming to release this next entry on the July 16, 2016 date that was initially reserved for the Renner sequel.

No word yet on where the story for the next Jason Bourne movie will take us.

[Source: Deadline]