In an interview with Empire promoting the impending release of Ghost Protocol, Renner dropped some information on his character and the overall tone of the film, saying, "My character is called Aaron Cross, but he ends up having a bunch of different names. For fans of the franchise, [The Bourne Legacy] has that same ticking clock, but it's a new programme and new characters."

In previous films, Damon's efficient killer Jason Bourne was the product of the secret government program codenamed Treadstone, and Renner confirmed that The Bourne Legacy will also revolve around the program.  ""Yeah, it's that same deal, it's just a new set of agents with a different leash," he explained. "It's the same tempo and pace but more expansive and bigger. The differences are pretty vast but you'll know it's a Bourne movie."

After Damon and The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Ultimatum director Paul Greengrass declined to return for another adventure, Universal Pictures opted to proceed with a spinoff that would continue the franchise while also leaving the door open, should Damon and Greengrass opt to come back at some later date.

To write and direct, the studio enlisted Tony Gilroy, who contributed to the screenplays for all three previous Bourne movies.  Gilroy wrote and directed Michael Clayton, as well as Duplicity, and his writing credits include State of Play, The Devil's Advocate, and figure-skating romantic comedy The Cutting Edge.

While Jeremy Renner is set to play the central character in this new Bourne-less Bourne saga, the supporting cast includes Rachel Weisz, Edward Norton, Stacy Keach, Scott Glenn, and Albert Finney.

The Bourne Legacy is scheduled to arrive in theaters on August 3, 2012.