Damon joining Clooney in 'The Monuments Men'?
George Clooney is co-writing, directing and starring in an adaptation of Robert M. Edsel鈥檚 non-fiction WWII book , which reunites the Oscar-nominated Hollywood power-player/humanitarian with a number of old friends and familiar faces 鈥� including Matt Damon, who is in talks to reunite with Clooney after appearing alongside him in the Ocean鈥檚 Eleven trilogy and Syriana.
Damon is also working the press circuit for Good Will Hunting and Milk director Gus Van Sant鈥檚 upcoming Oscar-bait release , which he co-wrote (and co-headlines) with The Office鈥荣 John Krasinski. Naturally, journalists are once again hounding Damon for details about his possible return in聽; however, he鈥檚 yet to waver from his previous non-committal stance.
Edsel鈥檚 historical source material聽chronicles the efforts of the 鈥淢onuments Men鈥�: a group of American and British art historians/museum curators who rally to recover art stolen by the Third Reich before it is destroyed 鈥� as聽members of Hitler鈥檚 regime rush to cover their tracks during the final days of WWII. 聽says Damon鈥檚 up to join the supporting cast for Clooney鈥檚 adaptation, which includes Daniel Craig (), Bill Murray () and Cate Blanchett ().
Clooney鈥檚 film could focus more on the theme of international cooperation than聽Ben Affleck鈥檚 current Oscar-contender聽聽does,聽but unfold as a similar white-knuckle historical thriller driven by extraordinary circumstances. Affleck (the director) has an edge on Clooney (the filmmaker) in this area, as the latter tends to get by more on the strengths of his cast and script (see: ) 鈥� rather than his skills behind the camera聽(in this writer鈥檚 opinion, anyway).聽However, Monuments Men has a pretty terrific acting ensemble 鈥� and the script Clooney co-penned with Grant Heslov聽should be solid 鈥� so that bodes well.
As for Damon and Bourne 5: last time the actor spoke about the project, he鈥檇 not yet seen Bourne Legacy and was about the (sorta) Bourne franchise spinoff鈥檚 storyline. However, in a new interview with , Damon says that he鈥檚 since checked out the Jeremy Renner-led Legacy 鈥� and admits that it confirmed most of his previous reservations about聽a team-up with 鈥楬awkeye鈥� in the next Bourne installment.
Here is what Damon said:
鈥淚 think it鈥檚 going to make it harder for us to make another one. I鈥檓 just trying to figure out like鈥� Because [in 'Bourne Legacy'] they used our characters, anything that happens in that world, that鈥檚 the 鈥楤ourne鈥� world now. So the pill popping and all that stuff happens.鈥�
Damon has made it no secret that he thinks Jason Bourne鈥檚 story was , and has been skeptical about the proposition of his return since then (especially after spending a good chunk of time brain-storming a fourth installment with director Paul Greengrass).
On that subject, he reiterated:
鈥淚 don鈥檛 know what that story would be. I love Jeremy and I鈥檓 a huge fan of him and I know him personally and love him outside of work, too. But I just don鈥檛 know what that story would be. I could never see Bourne teaming up with anyone. And all he said was 鈥� he wanted out, he wanted out, he wanted out. So how do you get that character going again?鈥�
We can still get behind the idea of Damon and Renner working together in Bourne 5, but the story would have to be all the more compelling following Bourne Legacy (which felt like an聽 to the series). Of course, money talks in Tinseltown and Universal is on record as 鈥� so Damon better prepare to be harassed about this issue even more in the future鈥�
Sandy Schaefer blogs at .
