Matt Damon destroys Tony Gilroy and his "unreadable" script for The Bourne Ultimatum

This is old news, but could be a glimpse into the future of the the Bourne franchise, set to be continued with star Jeremy Renner in The Bourne Legacy. In the most recent issue of GQ, former Bourne star Matt Damon tore writer Tony Gilroy a new orifice for all the problems he caused with the franchise, in particularly crushing him for his "unreadable" script for The Bourne Ultimatum...

Damon: "It's really the studio’s fault for putting themselves in that position," Damon told GQ. "I don't blame Tony for taking a boatload of money and handing in what he handed in. It’s just that it was unreadable. This is a career ender. I mean, I could put this thing up on eBay and it would be game over for that dude. It's terrible. It's really embarrassing. He was having a go, basically, and he took his money and left."

After the somewhat unexpected success of the first two films, Gilroy was in a prime position to demand anything he wanted, as Damon alludes to. He also included wording that basically gave him no one to answer to, not from a consultant or the studio, and definitely not the talent. The script was so bad that Scott Z. Burns(Contagion) and George Nolfi(The Adjustment Bureau) came in at the last minute to make it workable.


Gilroy, perhaps recognizing that Ultimatum might be the best of the three films, lobbied hard for sole writing credit, despite the work of Burns and Nolfi. He ultimately lost that battle, but it's funny because Gilroy wanted to share credit(or so some say) on The Bourne Identity, back when people figured it would suck.


Damon quickly apologized for the comments he made, and seems to have genuine good hopes for The Bourne Legacy...


Damon: "If I didn't respect him and appreciate his talent, then I really wouldn't have cared," Damon said of the writer. "My feelings were hurt. That's all. And that's exactly why I shouldn’t have said anything. This is between me and him. So saying anything publicly is 'bleepin' stupid and unprofessional and just kind of douchey of me."

Is there any chance he could return to the franchise? Well, Damon has said he won't come back unless Paul Greengrass does as well, but he isn't ready to shut the door completely, liking the fact that he now has more freedom to take chances with his career...

Damon: "It feels like I can swing freely, like a baseball player—just be relaxed and really do the things that I want to do and not worry, because I know there's another one out there," he said.

Tony Gilroy is currently prepping The Bourne Legacy, which he will both direct and co-write along with his brother, Dan. It's due to be released on August 3rd 2012.