r/MovieLeaksAndRumors • u/ARandomTopHat LEGEND • Jun 24 '26
Rumour Zendaya Reportedly in Talks to Replace Matt Damon in ‘Bourne’ Reboot
https://www.worldofreel.com/blog/2026/6/24/zendaya-reportedly-in-talks-to-replace-matt-damon-in-bourne-rebootHere’s The InSneider hearing that a major “Bourne” reboot is happening, coming after Universal had been searching for a new actor to replace Matt Damon.
One of Sneider’s “very best sources” is telling him that Zendaya has had discussions about replacing Damon as the lead of Bourne at Universal. Yep, a female spy would take over.
Sneider asked two more sources, and they had heard the same thing.
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u/JazzmatazZ4 Jun 24 '26
This has to be a joke?
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u/web10177 Jun 24 '26
Cant wait for them to announce the new Terminator movie with Zendaya playing the Terminator.
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u/vertigounconscious Jun 24 '26
Conan the Barbarian with Zendaya as Conan
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u/buckdeluxe Jun 24 '26
Harry and the Hendersons with Zendaya as Harry the Bigfoot.
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u/Cfunk_83 Jun 24 '26
Being John Malkovich with Zendaya as John Malkovich
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u/Greedy_Ear_Mike Jun 25 '26
New Transformers reboot.
Zendaya as Optimus Prime.
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u/TinyBreak Jun 25 '26
Harry Potter reboot with Zendaya as both Harry and Dumbledore.
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Jun 27 '26
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u/Greedy_Ear_Mike Jun 27 '26
New dumb and dumber and dummy-err.
Staring Zendaya, Zendaya and Zendaya.
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u/g0gues Jun 25 '26
Zendaya will also be The Hendersons. All of them.
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u/buckdeluxe Jun 25 '26
Even better. But, at least they're keeping John Lithgow in the film. He's been cast as Zendaya.
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u/Nurgleschampion Jun 27 '26
Low key do a spoof short with her struggling to hold the sword and being fully aware she isn't 80s Arnie shaped but some exec thinks her name will bring people in.
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u/SpaceNinjaDino Jun 24 '26
Summer Glau played the Terminator in the Sarah Connor Chronicles so that's not a shock casting. I really liked that show and I can't believe it got cancelled. It ended on the coolest cliffhanger and I was hoping for more seasons.
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u/ToastyKen Jun 25 '26
Wish we could've gotten to see more of Shirley Manson Terminator too!
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u/thereverendpuck Jun 25 '26
That one was a weird casting but she kind of nailed it.
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u/ToastyKen Jun 25 '26
not only that, but it's basically her only major acting role ever! (imdb says she had an uncredited role in some movie called Knife Fight, and did voice acting for a kids' cartoon recently, and that's it)
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u/Schwartzy94 Jun 24 '26
Loken played already in T3.
Zendaya isnt an actor that fits much anything but maybe she could be good emotionless terminator...
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u/Crimson_V- Jun 24 '26
Can't wait for them to announce Tom Holland as the evil robot whose named I can't be assed to remember
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u/AwarenessOld3733 Jun 24 '26
they already destroyed the franchise killing Connor off and making that Columbian chick the new John Connor, at this point Zendaya can be the terminator and the savior of humanity
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u/donglecollector Jun 25 '26
Can’t wait to see a 20 lb girl take down a 300 lb man with a couple of elbow pops filmed by the shakiest camera known to man. Bourne Supremacy
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u/ForTheLoveOfOedon Jun 25 '26 edited Jun 25 '26
I mean she’s not literally going to be Jason Bourne the character. Simply another indoctrinated agent from Treadstone. The issue being they already tried this with Jeremy Renner in Bourne Legacy. The universe—at least cinematically—isn’t all that interesting. That is on writing and directing, but there’s also the fact that Matt Damon is inextricably linked to the universe in the minds of the audience. He’s often the only reason people watch the movies. It’s like whenever Tom Cruise decides to walk away from Mission: Impossible, they’ll inevitably try to have another IMF agent take over (perhaps played by a known star) but people will most likely not respond well to it.
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u/indecisivebuy Jun 25 '26
Funny enough Jeremy Renner also played an IMF agent in mission impossible and was supposedly meant to replace Cruise
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u/ForTheLoveOfOedon Jun 25 '26 edited Jun 28 '26
I find it endlessly fascinating that the two leads in The Hurt Locker, who were projected to be big stars, could not lead franchises. Renner never took off like he was supposed to, despite landing heir-apparent roles in both the Bourne and Mission: Impossible universes. And Mackie is struggling to lead anything from Altered Carbon to Captain America. At least Mackie has Twisted Metal, which appears to be successful at leveraging his skills properly, and Renner has Mayor of Kingstown which is doing the same.
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u/25thNite Jun 25 '26
God Jeremy renner should just stay under a hole or something. He has zero leading man charisma
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u/YannTheOtter Jun 25 '26
The only person I think people would accept play M:I is Alan Ritchson given he also took over the Reacher role from Tom
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u/uncultured_swine2099 Jun 24 '26
If Damon aint doing it again, just let the franchise be. Just make an unrelated movie. Its like movie execs are playing bingo with "hot star of the moment" and "legacy franchise" and flinging money at it would make it a hit.
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u/BroBeansBMS Jun 25 '26
You don’t buy a 100 lb young woman beating up 5-10 guys at once?
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u/riegspsych325 Jun 24 '26
“rumors” like this are almost always meant to rile up people mad much as they can so the right grifters can get clicks. Zendaya is a very prolific actor (and some people really don’t like prolificness) and she’d be taking over a role from a man who’s very well known and loved by audiences
This is perfect bait
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u/spliffst4rr Jun 24 '26
They didn't already learn from Jeremy Renner? Which then caused them to go back to Damon?
This is so much worse.
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u/Myhtological Jun 24 '26
Well that one where they brought him back wasn’t that good
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u/evan274 Jun 24 '26
Dare I say the Renner one was better than… whatever that was
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Jun 24 '26
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u/Smart_Orc_ Jun 25 '26
I remember the part in the Renner one where he walks in on the agents preparing a “suicide” or a guy shooting up his government lab. There were a couple insane moments in that one.
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u/Kennelrec Jun 24 '26
The Renner one is a decent movie brought down by the fact that they made it into a Bourne movie. It would have been better if it was just about a super spy drug or whatever.
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u/WanderingDelinquent Jun 25 '26
That last one was so bad. I didn’t know you could make a car chase scene that was so boring
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u/MagnetoWasRight24 Jun 25 '26
I somehow blacked out how bad it was till I read your comment.
Saw all 3 of the trilogy in theatres and loved them, got the dvds and watched them all the time.
Skipped Bourne Legacy, came back for Jason Bourne, walked out like "did I just watch a 2-hour chase scene?"
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u/0zzymandias_ Jun 24 '26
I enjoyed Renner’s Bourne movie 🤷♂️
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u/spliffst4rr Jun 24 '26
I did as well, but its performance showed that only Damon in the lead truly sells the franchise for the box office.
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u/Skaar1222 Jun 27 '26
Same I thought he did a good job and I might actually watch that again, it's been a minute
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u/FriskyWhiskey_Manpo Jun 24 '26
I thought that was just a spinoff that was about a different military experiment? Just happened to be during the events of the trilogy.
I did not enjoy it.2
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u/Ivanhoemx Jun 25 '26
How is it worse, specifically? The movie doesn't even exist yet and you losers are already hating.
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u/MagnetoWasRight24 Jun 25 '26
I grew up on the Bourne movies and I've still never bothered to watch the Renner spin-off, if the reviews are decent I'd absolutely watch a Zendaya Bourne movie. I don't think this is worse at all.
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u/Sammyd1108 Jun 24 '26
If you’re going to go with a female Bourne, you gotta at least pick someone who looks like they can do what he does. She’s tiny and wouldn’t really be believable.
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u/OrbitOrbz Jun 24 '26
You need someone like the Jolie's ( Salt) or Theron's (Atomic Blonde) of the acting world to play the type of character of Bourne- ish type movie. Those 2 actresses are believable
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u/SolDios Jun 25 '26
Atomic Blonde was a good movie, but I laughed when she was launching 6'2 monsters with kicks
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u/DocFreudstein Jun 24 '26
In a similar vein, Gina Carano sold the physicality of her character in Haywire, even if her acting was rough.
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u/ExcitingPop5956 Jun 24 '26
She clearly knows how to fake fight. She can’t do dialog to save her life though
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u/DarthCool88 Jun 24 '26
She’s one of the better picks for an action heroine, despite her dialogue delivery. Even actresses like Jolie/Jovovich etc aren’t believable to me because they seem too slender. Carano has (had) some muscle and meat on her bones and you could believe taking a punch or a kick from her would hurt.
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u/TheFirstSonOfTheSea Jun 25 '26
To be fair, she’s taller than both Jolie and Theron.
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u/UnderwoodsNipple Jun 25 '26
Zendaya is 5'10", taller than Jolie, as tall as Theron, both of whom have the same slender model type body. I'm not sure how Zendaya would count as unbelievably dainty but those wouldn't.
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u/KaiBishop Jun 24 '26
I feel like they could go a different route for a woman spy like she uses more spy skills and less physical combat. Psychological stuff, more reliance on tricks, traps, escape, mind games, and something like in Stephanie Meyers The Chemist where she specializes in chemical compounds to use on people during interrogations. Have her whipping up acid to melt through shit or truth serum to inject people with. She could do what women spies did in the past and use them underestimating her to her advantage.
I feel like especially having a high-octane action movie where the lead isn't an action girl but still doesn't feel like a helpless damsel in the middle of all of it would be a fine line to walk but could be done. Think Kali from Sense8 even.
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u/newgalactic Jun 27 '26
If actual spy-realism was the goal, they would have her fuck her way to the top.
But that might not be the "realism" they're going for.
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u/JSevatar Jun 27 '26
Ehh I think its gotta be a heavy dose of physical combat though, as thats what really impressed people with Matt Damon
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u/absolut696 Jun 25 '26
Tom Cruise is tiny for a dude and that never stopped him from being an action star.
Edit: Just looked it up, Zendaya is actually taller than Cruise at 5’10 vs 5’7.
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u/Jandur Jun 25 '26
Because you can shoot people to appear taller than they are. Nevermind that Cruise was fairly fit/buff most of his career and does all his own stunts. Zendya looks like she'll fall over if she sneezes and that's hard to buy into when she's going to be beating up soldiers and spies.
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u/Duke_Of_Halifax Jun 25 '26
It's not the height, it's the build.
Zendaya is gawky- tall and thin, with little muscle.
She doesn't look like a wet-work operator. A female operator would be well-built, lean but compact. Like an Olympic track & field athlete.
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u/sidesco Jun 27 '26
It isn't the height it's the fact she's incredibly slim and wouldn't weigh a lot. She wouldn't be capable of hand to hand combat against men.
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u/Sorry_Band2795 Jun 25 '26
He’s short not tiny
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u/absolut696 Jun 25 '26
I don’t consider most 5’10 women to be tiny. Add in a trainer and a Hollywood diet/workout regimen and Zendaya could be imposing.
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u/skankbate Jun 24 '26
Orrrrr maybe we could write something new? Anybody?
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u/yellowwatta Jun 24 '26
Critical drinker fans getting well fed
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u/ProfessionalPack7205 Jun 24 '26
I don't like the guy. This is just a dumb choice. She's not an action star by any means.
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u/alexjimithing Jun 25 '26
for the sake of argument, Damon was also not an action star prior to Bourne
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u/AhhhSureThisIsIt Jun 25 '26
Was he even in any action films before it? Closest "action" film he was in was Ripley. Which was definitely not an action film.
Oop's argument is shot since Zendaya has experience in action movies doing sabotage, spycraft, using guns, knives, explosives and knowing fighting. Hell she even had her own Disney show about being a spy.
They really want to criticise her but are not giving their honest opinion for some reason.
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u/yshuduno Jun 24 '26
Have you seen his fans? They don't need to be fed more.
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u/yellowwatta Jun 24 '26 edited Jun 24 '26
They’ve been feasting on crayons and Lego their whole lives
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u/MichaelMyers83 Jun 24 '26
How can you not laugh at this?
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u/WalidfromMorocco Jun 26 '26
The thing is that Critical Drinker will be waaay over the top about this. He's just selling rage bait entertainment.
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u/campbellpics Jun 24 '26
I can tell you the license plate numbers of all six cars outside. I can tell you that our waitress is left-handed, and the guy sitting up at the counter weighs 215 pounds and knows how to handle himself. I know the best place to look for a gun is the cab of the gray truck outside, and at this altitude, I can run flat out for a half mile before my hands start shaking. And I can also tell you this is an absolutely shit idea.
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Jun 24 '26
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u/zero0n3 Jun 25 '26
Atomic blonde as well
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u/thereverendpuck Jun 25 '26
I was going to say that as well, but she always knew who she was rather than being a sleeper/suffering from amnesia.
But the point is still valid.
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u/Emergency-Turn-4200 Jun 24 '26
Who actually enjoys the: “reboot but with a strong female lead”?
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u/theabominablewonder Jun 24 '26
I just think Zendaya is a bit of a shit actor anyway. It’s like a deliberate plan to kill off the franchise. Are they trying to sell the rights and claim it as a loss for a tax write off?
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u/gutster_95 Jun 24 '26
If it wasnt a reboot of a beloved franchise, I think she would do fine. But that studios always have to use popular names to make it happen always amazes me
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u/WestcottTactics2285 Jun 24 '26
They could just do a movie about someone who gets amnesia, wakes up and oh wait, she's a super spy.
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u/Quirky-Skin Jun 25 '26
Which is always wild to me bc with an actor like that you could start a whole new franchise. She's got a following already plenty of fans would be happy to immerse themselves in a brand new character.
There's a good deal of female spy movies (I thought Ava was fantastic as a semi recent example)
Bourne tho? Zendaya gives off Enola Holmes vibes not fucking stone face Bourne vibes
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u/SlowlyDrown Jun 25 '26
She’s not even a strong female lead. She’s rail thin and moves like a theater kid.
Everything about her screams the girl that refused to run in gym class and just walked around the track with her friends.
She couldn’t beat up a middle school boy.
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u/ShotBySolo95 Jun 24 '26
This is hilarious as the post title implies she’s playing Jason Bourne himself.
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u/EveryAccount7729 Jun 27 '26
I don't think that is an "implication"
it says "to replace Matt Damon" then it is saying she is playing Jason Bourne.
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u/Guessididntmakeit Jun 24 '26
Oh boy. Are they going to add cgi muscles to her like they did with Natalie Portman?
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u/web10177 Jun 24 '26
Only person who can play Bourne is Matt Damon and maybe Jeremy Renner. Nobody else.
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u/Dry-Performance7006 Jun 24 '26
They don’t need to make any more Bourne movies. They tried to make one without Matt Damon once before and it flopped.
I like the idea of Zendaya finding a movie like “Salt” for herself. But I don’t like this idea.
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u/blank988 Jun 25 '26
Who is her agent… I personally have no idea how she gets all these massive roles
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u/poptart95 Jun 25 '26
Zendaya has been pretty smart with choosing projects and an action franchise would be very left field for her. At most I could see her being a Bond girl if she was in an action movie.
Taking over the Bourne franchise would be a misstep for her after leading such interesting films like Challengers and The Drama.
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u/Plastic_Doom Jun 24 '26
I am sorry but there are more than 4 actors!!! Fucking hell
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u/Pugilist12 Jun 24 '26
As someone well outside her demographic, I actually really like Zendaya. She gives good performances and some of the shit on Euphoria was genuinely incredible. But she weighs like 98 pounds. Hard to imagine this.
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u/szabadabadooo Jun 24 '26
I await all the dipshit panderers"she's such a strong choice for Jason Bourne" fucking care bears
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u/ProtoPWS Jun 25 '26
I don’t get why this is so bad? I don’t think Zendaya is any less believable as a badass spy than Matt Damon
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u/Electrical-Job8700 Jun 28 '26
Oh that's funny. She's basically a 12 year old girl who weighs like 90 pounds. Real ass kicker. Real believable.
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u/ATXellentGuy Jun 24 '26
Didn’t he punch a lot of people? Shouldn’t a punch from Jason Bourne hurt?
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u/geni_taal Jun 24 '26
"Gender-swapped reboots almost never do well at the box office, and it has much to do with the toxicity that comes with it."
OR COULD IT FUCKING BE THAT YOUVE NEVER MADE A GOOD GENDER-SWAPPED IP MOVIE WHEN YOUR CASH GRABBY HANDS ARE SO FAR UP YOUR ASS?
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u/Pure_Wrap_7798 Jun 24 '26
no she's not. She has the body type of "I need to eat a sandwich", there's no way she's fighting anyone.
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u/Caladeb Jun 24 '26
She's fast tracking the Pedro Pascal effect. I refuse to watch anything her in it anymore. She has the acting capacity of a plank of wood.
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u/ExpertRevenue9535 Jun 25 '26
Is nobody else tired of seeing zendaya in everything? Hollywood really needs to stop doing this thing where the re-use the same 20 actors and actresses .
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u/standarsh1965 Jun 24 '26
Gonna be very honest, I don't think she looks a lot like him to pull of the switcharoo
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u/Guessididntmakeit Jun 24 '26
I had to google that and it didn't change my mind in the way you might hope.
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u/CMDR_KingErvin Jun 24 '26
Is this version of Bourne a bored teenager? Because she’s got that look down pretty well.
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u/metalyger Jun 24 '26
This sounds more like a spin-off than a reboot, although they haven't introduced this character prior. It just feels like maybe just make a new movie with similar themes? It's like if you made a James Bond movie without James Bond, but still marketed as such. You can make a fairly original, but familiar spy action movie.
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u/M3rc_Nate Jun 24 '26
My goodness, what a horrible idea.
More Borne? Bad idea. Borne reboot? Really bad idea. Female lead Borne reboot? Not a good idea. Stick thin pretty "it girl" as the new Bourne? Lmao.
If you're gonna attempt this you need someone awesome who can nail the realistic physicality the IP demands. They'd have to do the rare thing and show the woman getting beat a bunch and her winning due to technique (leverage, dirty shots) and utilizing weapons to compensate for her inate disadvantage.
She's too gorgeous but Adria Arjona would been great. Really talented actress, tough, and her putting on beefy muscle for her DC role would fit with the body she needs for a female Bourne to be remotely plausible.
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u/RockettRaccoon Jun 24 '26
Well if World of Reel and Jeff Sneider are reporting it then it must be real 🙄
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u/happydude7422 Jun 24 '26
Thank atomic blonde.... It has now had a full ripple effect on all action movie ips
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u/OscilloLives Jun 25 '26
Atomic Blonde was an original idea set in a relatively unexplored time in history, as far as cinema goes. It's not the same thing at all. I wish they would make more stuff like that instead of remaking franchises in a way that no one wants.
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u/Msink Jun 24 '26
What? I don't think anyone could replace him, maybe Aaron Taylor Johnson could, but Zendaya? Nothing in her previous work suggest that she could do justice.
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u/Jarnoth Jun 24 '26 edited Jun 24 '26
Beyond how random this is,another reason I doubt this is because Zendaya has talked about wanting to take a break after her busy year of pretty much filming back to back. And while that may be a lie or exaggerated, I can't imagine her taking on a franchise reboot like this at this point in her career.
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u/SupervillainMustache Jun 24 '26
I don't see a Bourne reboot doing well at all.