20 Unforgettable Secrets About The Bourne Identity

20. “The word on Bourne was that it was supposed to be a turkey,” Damon recalled to GQ in 2012. “It’s very rare that a movie comes out a year late, has four rounds of reshoots, and it’s good.”

Not to mention, The Bourne Identity was a huge hit, grossing more than $214 million worldwide. But Universal never entertained the thought of having Liman back to direct the sequel(s) it was already planning.

“I lost my baby,” he lamented to New York.

He was, however, credited as an executive producer on all the rest of the Bourne films except for 2012’s The Bourne Legacy starring Jeremy Renner, back when Damon thought he was done with the franchise. But in the meantime, it was unclear what, exactly, Liman was going to direct next.

As fate would have it, Brad Pitt had signed on to do Mr. and Mrs. Smith for 20th Century Fox. Following the hullabaloo over on the Bourne shoot, the actor was told he could have his pick of directors—except for Doug Liman.

“So he brought it to me,” the filmmaker told New York.

After that, too, was a big success, Damon said of Liman, “He’s four for four.” And, referring to how he himself was coming off a few clunkers before their collaboration, the actor added, “He saved my career with Bourne.”

In 2008, Marc Shmuger, who’d since become chairman of Universal Pictures, told Variety, “He has a chaotic and at times brilliant mind. For many involved with Doug on Bourne, the experience was too painful to contemplate ever doing it again. But he helped to create a signature identity for Bourne. I would work with him again on the right project.”