22 years after The Bourne Identity, Matt Damon reflects on a “radically different” experience working with director Doug Liman on new movie The Instigators

Upcoming thriller action flick The Instigators marks not only Matt Damon’s return to the genre but his reunion with director Doug Liman 22 years after the release of The Bourne Identity, which star Damon says was a radically different experience to the new movie. 

“Thankfully, we’re both 20 years older and more experienced,” says Damon, speaking to GamesRadar+ and the Inside Total Film podcast. “But yeah, the first time I worked with him, it was pretty fraught, and the word on the street in Hollywood was that it was a bomb because our release date got pushed and all this stuff, and so we all thought we were in trouble.”

Released in 2002, Liman’s The Bourne Identity stars Damon as Jason Bourne who, after being shot, wakes up with no memory of what happened to him. But as Damon says, despite “Hollywood” thinking the movie would be a flop, it actually proved to be a big hit and opened at “27 million bucks, though the Scooby Doo movie that weekend opened at 54,” as the star recalls. 

Fast forward to 2024, Damon and Liman are back together on Apple TV Plus comedic thriller The Instigators. But back when the project was just getting off the ground and needed a director, Damon knew who to call. “I said, ‘Let me send it to Doug and see if he’s interested’ and that was that,” adds Damon. “I love Doug, and I love the way he works, and I love his body of work. [His] movies are all wonderful. They’re all very different, and they’re totally all really unique. And that’s what we needed with this one.”

The new movie doesn’t just include a reunion between Damon and Liman, but also between Damon and Downsizing star Hong Chau, and of course Damon and his long-term friend and acting buddy Casey Affleck. “Yeah. I mean that I love this job so much, and the only thing better than doing it is doing it with people that I care about and really admire. And so any chance I get to do that, I’ll do it,” says Damon.

The Instigators stars Damon and Affleck as unlikely partners thrown together for a heist, only for it to go awry and attract the attention of police, bureaucrats, and a mafia boss. The cast also includes Hong Chau, Jack Harlow, Paul Walter Hauser, and Ron Perlman.

The interview above is just a snippet from our talk with The Instigators stars Matt Damon, Casey Affleck, and Hong Chau. Listen out for the full interview in this week’s episode of the Inside Total Film podcast available on Friday, August 9, 2024. 

The Instigators premieres on Apple TV Plus on August 9. For more, check out our list of the best action movies, or keep up with new movies heading your way this year.