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In the past, when someone wanted to watch a spy film that could rock their senses, they had only the007franchise to satisfy their wishes. But in the early 2000s, Matt Damon brought something new to the secret operative genre with the first film of the now iconicBourneseries. Directed by Doug Liman,The Bourne Identitybecame an overnight success.
Where once, popular opinions stated that there may never be a film that can rival a franchise as iconic as007,Damon’s character of Jason Bourne single-handedly challenged James Bond to rethink his approach. But when Universal Studios wanted to make the ending of the film even more grand by making the lead actor fight hundreds of assailants, Liman stepped up and said they can screw themselves, because that wasn’t happening.
Doug Liman Denied Studios’ Suggestion For The End OfThe Bourne Identity
Somehow, when nobody else thought there would come a day when we would see a serious, grittier version of James Bond on the big screen, Doug Liman jumped into the genre withThe Bourne Identity.And whatMatt Damonmanaged to achieve with the help of the titular character has immortalized his legacy in the industry.
But when it comes to the ending of the first film, that classic stealth face-off and beatdown could all have been replaced with a non-genuine show of power if the director had listened to Universal Studios.
In a past interview withSlashFilm, theAmerican Madedirector talked about his then-upcoming filmLocked Down.Here, the interviewer also asked him about his masterpiece, which wasThe Bourne Identity. They said that they wished more films would have expert killing machines like the titular character facing only a couple of adversaries that create a lasting impact.
Liman revealed that Universal wanted Damon to fight almost 200 people in the ending scenes of the film, which they said would be a great conclusion for the film. But he wasn’t going to let that happen. He said:
“Yeah. Universal, actually, had wanted Bourne fighting like 200 people. Still one of my favorite mementos from my career is, Universal telling me that they thought the ending was weak, unsatisfying. They wanted Jason Bourne to fight 200 people. And I told the two executives to go eff-themselves. Unfortunately, one of those executives now runs Netflix, but I’m still proud of having sent that memo.”
If the director had gone down the suggested route, then the entire film could’ve felt superfluous and unreal, which wasn’t something that he was going for.
How Jason Bourne Rivaled James Bond?
When we look at all the films in the007franchise that came before the release of the firstBournefilm, we can see most of them being nothing more than a humourous and campy version of what they could potentially be.
ButThe Bourne Identitywas just ruthless, serious, and absolutely action-packed to the ceiling from the get-go. This version of a secret operative with enhanced senses and the ability to take down anyone in his path was something that James Bond couldn’t compete with, which is why the franchise cast Daniel Craig in the next iterations of Agent 007, someone who was exactly as lethal as Bourne.
The Bourne Identity,streaming on Prime Video.
Deepak Bisht
Articles Published :1503
Deepak is a senior writer at FandomWire with a serious love for comic books (DC Absolute Universe and Marvel), the Warhammer universe (Horus Heresy and 40,000), cinematic universes (Sonic, MCU and DCU etc.) and Movies (Action, Adventure, Psychological Horror and Thrillers etc.).With over 1,400 articles under his belt, he spends most of his time diving into the world of superheroes, cinematic universes, TV shows, and films. His goal? To share accurate, engaging, and fun stories that keep fans hooked and in the know.
