A Gazillion Names Considered To Star In THE BOURNE LEGACY: Gyllenhaal, Maguire, Hedlund, Kitsch, Lutz, Hartnett, Dano, Pettyfer, Edgerton And More

First off, quick reminder about the next Bourne film, THE BOURNE LEGACY, (Not based on the book) from writer/director Tony Gilroy,.. just in case you forgot… Matt Damon won’t reprise his role because the story will have a new hero but the stories from previous three installments will still factor and trigger a wider conspiracy and it will end up with Damon returning again as Jason Bourne. So it’s not a sequel or a prequel, it’s more like shifting the focus to someone and something else related to the matter at hand before going back to Jason again. It’s a different story about the parent company behind the murderous shadow government operation Treadstone, the new protagonist will be another agent and probably a killer who went through experiences similar to Bourne’s. The plot accepts everything that has happened in the trilogy and factors it into the storyline. . Ok, now that you’ve refreshed your memory, fast forward to today, there are names being considered to play this new protagonist, and when I say names I mean literally plural as in many names..

Though not confirmed by Universal, Variety heard that Giroy is in town this week to meet with several actors including Jake Gyllenhaal, Tobey Maguire, Garrett Hedlund, Taylor Kitsch, and Kellan Lutz.
Deadline heard some additional names are also in consideration including Joel Edgerton, Josh Hartnett, Paul Dano, Michael Pitt, Oscar Isaac, Michael Fassbender, Luke Evans, Alex Pettyfer, Benjamin Walker.

Word has it both Universal and Gilroy are looking for a lead in his mid-20s to early 30s, younger than Damon was in the first film, The Bourne Identity.
They’re open to possibility of a lesser known actors, Gilroy would like to screen-test all candidates.
No other casting decision will be made until they’ve hired their lead.
THE BOURNE LEGACY is set to start production in Spring for a theatrical release on August 3rd, 2012.

So of all those gazillion names mentioned above, who’s your pick?
It just hit me, if Hedlund gets cast as the star of THE BOURNE LEGACY, this will be his 2nd film that has the word LEGACY in its title.