Not that we didn't really expect it, but Universal has gone ahead and gotten the exclusive rights to the Jason Bourne character, who has made the studio a mint since they started adapting the Robert Ludlum novels that feature him. Along with nabbing Bourne for themselves, they've also gotten first-look rights for all other Ludlum titles, except for a few that are already in development at other studios.
Variety has a big breakdown of where other Ludlum novels are being developed, including David Cronenberg's adaptation of The Matarese Circle with MGM and Relativity. But a fourth Bourne movie has already been in the works at Universal, with Matt Damon and Paul Greengrass both scheduled to return in time for the film to be released in summer 2010.
The Bourne trilogy is one of the few series I'd be willing to see continue even after it reached its planned end. Greengrass managed to make each movie better than the next, according to some people, and can be expected to bring the same level of talent for a fourth go-round. The only problem comes if Universal gets too greedy with the rest of the Ludlum titles, and starts turning out the kind of crap nobody wants to see. It'll probably happen inevitably, but at least we can look forward to one of their projects in the meantime.
