Deadline is reporting that the lead role in the highly anticipated The Bourne Legacy currently has a few frontrunners that are set to test for director and co-writer Tony Gilroy, who co-wrote all of the scripts for the last three Bourne films.
The list now includes Dominic Cooper, Joel Edgerton, Garrett Hedlund, and Luke Evans. It’s interesting that of these four actors, Hedlund is the only American, with Cooper and Evans both being British and Edgerton being Australian. Given that The Bourne Legacy is going to be a completely new take on the franchise, without Matt Damon as the lead, it is at least feasible that the new lead character might not be an American. Whether Universal would want this, I don’t know, but it could be interesting to see the franchise develop beyond the CIA.
With the exception of Hedlund, who starred in last year’s blockbuster Tron: Legacy, none of the actors have really had a significant lead role in a major American film, which The Bourne Legacy is undoubtedly set to be. So being cast in such a role would definitely be a huge break for them, essentially being handed the keys to the kingdom with a potential new franchise of their own to look forward to.
Two other names are still reported to be in consideration, Shia LaBeouf (who apparently will not test), and Taylor Kitsch (X-Men Origins: Wolverine’s Gambit). So the field is still a little open, but is certainly narrowing from the longer list that was produced last month.
Universal have set the release date for the new Bourne film as 3rd August, 2012, so hopefully we will have a confirmed lead actor and a supporting to cast to bring you very soon.
