Tony Gilroy Remembers The Bourne Identity As “An Absolute Rollercoaster Of Sh*t That Turned Into A Success”

The Bourne Identity writer reflects on the first movie in the series. 2002’s The Bourne Identity is an adaptation of the Robert Ludlum novel of the same name, following the story of a man who faces amnesia and is attempting to escape his assassins and gain back his memory. The first film in the franchise saw a screenplay co-written by Tony Gilroy and William Blake Herron, and was directed by Doug Liman. The Bourne Identity cast included Matt Damon, Chris Cooper, Franka Potente, Clive Owen, and Brian Cox.

In an interview with Letterboxd, Gilroy reflects on The Bourne Identity. The writer explained that the attacks on 9/11 ended up rescuing the movie, as it got delayed and thus gave the team more time. Before that point, the film had been “an absolute disaster,” with Gilroy going so far as to say that it was “just an absolute rollercoaster of shit that turned into a success.” He went on to say that he thinks The Bourne Identity is the best movie in the Bourne franchise. Check out the full quote from Gilroy below:

It was an absolute disaster. And it was a disaster and then 9/11 saved that movie. Because it got pushed off and it got shut down and the pressure was taken off. But that’s a movie that was a whole year away from massive rehab and everything else. It’s just an absolute rollercoaster of shit that turned into a success all the time. It’s really unbelievable. Because nothing should, you know, all the bad blood and disagreements, and drama. Oh my god, as I said, it’s been the most shambolic success in Hollywood I can think of. It pains me to say, but the first one’s probably the best one. I mean it really is. It has such a weird stink on it when it comes on. It just has a, it really has its own smell and its own flavor. And what is it? It’s really unique. I wish I could say it was all intentioanl and vent out, but like it exists. It’s a wonderful thing. It doens’t matter how it happened, it just happened. It came to be.

What This Means For The Bourne Identity

The Movie Was Well-Reviewed

Gilroy was no novice writer when he took on The Bourne Identity. After making his screenwriting debut with The Cutting Edge in 1992, Gilroy went on to pen a more high-profile work with Michael Bay’s Armageddon. As such, he knew what did and did not make a Hollywood success at that point in his career. In retrospect, he is even more easily able to recognize what was going wrong in the initial phases of The Bourne Identity, as he has gotten far enough in his career that he is now even an Oscar nominee (for Michael Clayton).

Gilroy is also not the only person who believes that The Bourne Identity is among the best in the franchise. With an 84% Tomatometer, the movie is the second-best-reviewed Bourne movie. The best-reviewed in 2007’s The Bourne Ultimatum, which currently holds a 92%. Still, the Certified Fresh score means that Gilroy and the other screenwriters’ hard work paid off, ultimately producing an end product for the Bourne movie that audiences and critics were satisfied with.

Our Take On The Bourne Identity’s Development

In This Case, Delays Helped The Movie

In 2025, it is interesting to hear about a movie whose delays worked to its advantage. In the last five years, the film industry at large have experienced two major production setback periods. The first came in 2020, when the world was rattled by the COVID-19 pandemic. The next came in 2023, when Hollywood was faced with strikes from both the WGA and SAG-AFTRA. These periods were considered a detriment to the film industry, and while 9/11 delays caused their own degree of fear and problems, the lull gave The Bourne Identity more time to breathe.

Source: Letterboxd