Rachel Weisz in talks for‘The Bourne Legacy’

Now thatJeremy Renneris set totake over the leadin Universal’s lucrative Bourne series, Rachel Weiszmay be the next addition toThe Bourne Legacy, the fourth installment and the firstwithout Matt Damon. Tony Gilroy, who contributed to each of the trilogy’s screenplays, is directing.

Deadlinereports Weisz, 41, is in“deeper talks” to star alongside Renner in the quasi spin-off, which centers on a new brainwashed covert operative from a different program than Treadstone (the black ops org. responsible for Bourne).

Legacyis scheduled to shoot this September for an August 8, 2012 release, which may take Weisz out of the runningto play Evanora, the Wicked Witch of the East, in Disney’sOz the Great and Powerful. Sam Raimi is directing that film this summer with James Franco and Mila Kunis, and Weisz was announced in early May as the villainess.

Still, the pairing of top talents Renner and Weisz is a step in the right direction for Bourne 4, especially since the absence of Damon will continue to raise skeptical eyebrows until next summer. Renner’s everyman qualities certainly take the sting out of the old switcheroo and she’s easy on the eyes in addition to being a capable Oscar winner. Weisz tends to accept more indie roles with an occasional mainstream movie mixed in to pay the bills, so the possibility of two Weisz flicks in multiplexes next year is exciting news.

Source