Riz Ahmed, star of Four Lions and the Jake Gyllenhaal-led thriller Nightcrawler, is teetering on the edge of stardom. In 2016, he’ll join Gareth Edwards for a trip to a galaxy far, far away for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, the first installment in Disney’s high-profile Anthology series set adjacent to the core trilogy. It’s a remarkable coup for the actor and next year is certainly going to catapult him into the limelight now that Variety has confirmed that Ahmed will join the burgeoning cast of Paul Greengrass’ Bourne 5.
Starring opposite The Man From U.N.C.L.E.‘s Alicia Vikander, Tommy Lee Jones, Vincent Cassell, Julia Stiles and of course, Matt Damon, Ahmed has landed a “key role” in the starry action sequel, assuming the part of a CIA specialist. What remains unclear, however, is whether he will help or hinder Jason Bourne’s globe-trotting adventure when it arrives in theaters next year.
Last time we touched base on Bourne 5, Greengrass’ actioner had set up shop in Tenerife, Spain, though it’s understood that shooting has now uprooted to various European locations as production begins to heat up. Naturally, Universal is remaining tight-lipped about the story specifics of Bourne’s latest mission in global espionage, though Damon has hinted that it will explore the pertinent themes of a post-Snowden world.
More recently, the actor hinted that, in the time that’s lapsed since his last outing, Bourne has begun to piece together his once fragmented memory.
“[Bourne] has his memory back, but that doesn’t mean he knows everything. It’s 12 years since Jason Bourne has been on the grid. So we have to answer the questions, Where’s he been? What’s he doing? What gets him going again? So once we solved all that, then we had a movie.”
Frank Marshall, Greg Goodman, and Ben Smith are all producing alongside Damon. Bourne 5 is locked for a release on July 15, 2016.