Brad Pitt Turned Down Bourne for This Forgettable Spy Movie
Before The Bourne Identity redefined spy movies in 2002, Universal was desperate to lock in a star to launch the franchise.
According to Variety, their first choice was Brad Pitt. He was being "heavily wooed" for the role of Jason Bourne — a major play for a series based on Robert Ludlum's best-selling thrillers. But Pitt passed.
Instead, he signed on for a different spy movie. And while it wasn't a total disaster, it sure wasn't Bourne.
At the time, Pitt had just come off Fight Club and was hot off the success of Ocean's Eleven. A franchise would've been the next logical step. But rather than wait and see how The Bourne Identity would shape up, he committed to Spy Game, a Tony Scott thriller co-starring Robert Redford.
Here's how that decision panned out, by the numbers:
The Bourne Identity (2002):
- Budget: $60 million
- Box office: $214 million
- Rotten Tomatoes: 84%
- Legacy: Launched a 5-film franchise, reshaped action choreography across Hollywood
Spy Game (2001):
- Budget: $115 million
- Box office: $143 million
- Rotten Tomatoes: 64%
- Legacy: A decent one-off, mostly forgotten outside spy movie trivia
Pitt's choice made some sense at the time. Spy Game had prestige: directed by Tony Scott, written by Michael Frost Beckner and David Arata, and paired him with Redford, a Hollywood icon he'd previously worked with on A River Runs Through It. The story had Pitt playing CIA operative Tom Bishop, whose mentor (Redford) scrambles to save him from a Chinese prison. Stylish, sleek, and full of backroom tension — it had all the ingredients. Just not the staying power.
Meanwhile, The Bourne Identity, directed by Doug Liman and starring Matt Damon (who ended up taking the role), changed action cinema. It stripped away the camp of late-period Bond and replaced it with gritty handheld fights and raw paranoia. The tone became the blueprint for basically every grounded spy thriller that followed.
Pitt didn't exactly "turn it down," according to Variety — he just filled his schedule before Bourne firmed up. Still, looking back, it's hard not to see this as a missed opportunity.
Damon walked away with a defining role and a franchise; Pitt got a solid paycheck and a movie people vaguely remember as "the one where he's in jail and Redford makes phone calls."
To add insult to injury? Pitt also once passed on The Matrix. So if you're keeping score, that's Neo and Jason Bourne both slipping through his fingers.
At least he still has Donnie from Snatch.