Bourne 5 Delayed Due to Matt Damon Return?

A fifth film in the Bourne franchise was reportedly delayed until 15 July 2016 so Matt Damon could return to his iconic role.

Jeremy Renner took over the series after Damon's last outing but the result was a film that didn't flop, but didn't light up the box office either.

Latino Review cite a "deeply embedded trusted source" who says that a deal has been struck that will see Damon return as Jason Bourne in Bourne 5, which is set to be directed by Justin Lin, the man behind Fast & Furious' Hollywood resurgence.

Damon had previously said he would be open to a return if Paul Greengrass (who directed Bourne Supremacy and Bourne Ultimatum) came back and if a suitable story was found. He told CNBC: "If any of your viewers have a story, please call Universal and submit it.

"It felt like such a good way to end it the last time... But having said that, I love that character and I'd love to see what happened to him."

Latino Review's source also claims that a string of box office disappointments for Matt Damon helped persuade him to return to the role.

As of yet, nothing has been said about Jeremy Renner and whether he would be returning as Aaron Cross – another product of the experimental and illegal black ops program that Jason Bourne exposed in the first trilogy.

Each of the highly successful original Bourne trilogy easily tripled its production budget at the box office, with final chapter The Bourne Ultimatum taking $442 million (£259 million) in 2007.