Jason Bourne director Paul Greengrass would 'never direct James Bond’

He's a Bourne man through and though 
Never ever: Paul Greengrass does not want to direct a James Bond film
Anthony Harvey/Getty Images
Jennifer Ruby12 July 2016
The Weekender

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Bourne director Paul Greengrass has ruled himself out of ever making a James Bond film.

The acclaimed British filmmaker, who has just released the latest in the Bourne franchise, admitted that he has had discussions with Bond producer Barbara Broccoli in the past.

When asked if he would consider taking on the project during an interview on Radio 4, Greengrass said:

“Honesty and truly no. I mean I know (Bond producer) Barbara Broccoli and we've discussed it.

“It's a bit like your football team, you can't... I'm a Bourne man, I like Bourne. And I've said before, listen it's a great, great franchisee of course it is, it's been going for 50 years, you've got to salute its success.”

Greengrass, who has directed three of the Bourne films, went on to say that he doesn’t share the same ‘series of values’ that are ‘encoded’ in the Bond franchise.

“Speaking personally as a filmmaker I think encoded in Bond are a series of values about Britain, about the world, about masculinity, about power, about the empire that I don't share,” he said.

“Quite the reverse. Whereas in Bourne I think encoded is much more scepticism. There's an us and a them and Bourne is an us, whereas Bond is working for them.

"And so speaking as one of the people as a kid who was always at the back of the class throwing bread rolls, I'm definitely on the Bourne side of the fence.”

In a an interview with GQ, Bourne star Matt Damon recently called Bond a ‘misogynist who likes swilling martinis and killing people and not giving a s***’.

“I like Bourne better than Bond," he said. "Bourne has today's values; Bond has the values of the 1960s.”

The brand new Bourne film, simply titled Jason Bourne will be releases in UK cinemas on July 27.

Jason Bourne European premiere

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