Matt Damon Takes on ‘The Adjustment Bureau’

Universal and Matt Damon are becoming quite the pair with the ‘Bourne’ franchise.   While the fourth film waits in the wings, however, the studio and the star are moving forward on another project.   ‘The Adjustment Bureau’   is billed as a contemporary love story with sci-fi overtones written and to be directed by George Nolfi.   Nolfi is also working on the fourth ‘Bourne’ film for Damon and Paul Greengrass.

In “The Adjustment Bureau,† Damon will play David Norris, a charismatic congressman who seems destined for national political stardom.   He meets a beautiful ballet dancer named Elise Sellas, only to find strange circumstances keeping their sparks from catching fire.   Norris discovers forces are at work to keep them apart, and he peels the layers to find out why.   The action takes place all over Manhattan.   No one has been cast as the female lead yet.

The film’s rights came with premiums that made studio chiefs think hard. The original offer sheet required a studio to commit to a budget near $62 million, with Damon realizing a 20% first dollar gross back-end. The studio puts up P&A, and gets worldwide distribution rights.

That seems reasonable for a big-scale PG-13 Damon vehicle with a premise that mixes action, romance and science fiction. But Universal is essentially licensing the film for a term that will run about 20 years.

Production on ‘The Adjustment Bureau’ begins in September.

Source: Variety