Universal nabs exclusive 'Bourne' rights

Universal has picked up the exclusive movie rights to Robert Ludlum's Jason Bourne character.

The Bourne films, which starred Matt Damon as a spy with amnesia, was initially seen as a three-film series but Universal is eager to expand it into a James Bond-style franchise.

Damon and director Paul Greengrass will return for a fourth instalment, which is being written by George Nolfi for a summer 2010 release.

Ludlum Entertainment chairman Jeffrey Weiner will take an active involvement in future Bourne instalments as part of the agreement, which will also see other Ludlum works set up at the studio.

"Universal has done such an excellent job with the first three films that they deserve the opportunity to keep Jason Bourne at the studio forever," Weiner told Variety.

Ludlum, who passed away while The Bourne Identity was in production, wrote three Bourne novels that loosely inspired the stories for their film counterparts.