After Nearly A Decade, Matt Damon Is 'Jason Bourne' Again

It’s a sweltering afternoon in Hollywood and Matt Damon has just gotten out of couple’s therapy.

Don’t worry, it was just with Jimmy Kimmel - a continuation of the fake feud that started over 10 years ago before the two had even met.

“It takes a really surreal turn because we got a real therapist and we play it totally straight,” said Damon seated in the green room of Kimmel Studios. After “therapy,” Damon had about 10 minutes to do a photo shoot, film an intro for a festival he can’t attend and scarf down a salad. This is life on the blockbuster circuit.

Damon, 45, is promoting “Jason Bourne,” a film that nine years ago both he and director Paul Greengrass thought would never happen. After three movies exploring the story of the super spy created by Robert Ludlum, the last two of which were directed by Greengrass, and a particularly difficult shooting experience with “The Bourne Ultimatum,” Damon was done.

The name would come up often, though, in meetings and from fans. In 2009, around the time Damon and Greengrass did “Green Zone,” they flirted with getting another one going but there just wasn’t a story. Universal Pictures, meanwhile, moved on, expanding the Bourne universe with a film focused on another agent played by Jeremy Renner. It did well enough, and a sequel was in the works. Then, in 2014, Greengrass and Damon took a look at the world and realized how much had changed.

“Paul called and said that the first set piece would be an austerity riot in Athens,” Damon said. “I’m like, ‘OK, we’re back.’”

But they made sure to structure their production schedule so they weren’t coming up with the script while they were shooting - as was the case with “Ultimatum.”