credt: Universal and Jason Bourne
NBCUniversal has acquired the rights to the Jason Bourne and Treadstone book series, excluding publishing rights, from author Robert Ludlum’s estate after a significant bidding war. According to sources, the rights had lapsed at the studio, prompting the Ludlum estate to hold an auction run by WME, which received seven offers before NBCUniversal matched the highest bid with what insiders called a "very large deal." The acquisition secures the future of the Bourne franchise across the NBCUniversal enterprise, including film, video games, merchandise, and a Universal Studios theme park attraction.
credit: Universal and Jason Bourne
Longtime producer Frank Marshall, along with Captivate Entertainment's Jeffrey Weiner and Ben Smith, will continue to oversee the franchise. A new film is currently in development with a script by Joe Barton, and there is potential for Matt Damon to return. This deal follows the five previous films, which were directed by Doug Liman, Paul Greengrass, and Tony Gilroy, and have collectively grossed over $1.64 billion globally.