Matt Damon’s action hero is reborn in the first trailer for ‘Jason Bourne’

Two months after offering a Super Bowl teaser, Universal Pictures has dropped the first full trailer for “Jason Bourne,” which returns Matt Damon for the first time in nearly a decade to the role that launched him to action stardom.

Directed by Paul Greengrass, who helmed two previous films in the espionage series, the franchise’s fifth installment has the perpetually tormented, amnesiac former CIA operative resurfacing after a long disappearance with his memory restored and once again going on the run, this time in the wake of a hack. Car chases, brutal brawls and gunplay ensue.

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In an interview last year as he was about to start work on the film, the 45-year-old Damon told The Times that getting in shape to play Bourne was far harder than it had been in his younger days.

“It’s horrible,” Damon said. “I’m in way better shape than I was for any of the other ones but it’s been 10 times harder. I’m really not fun to be around. I have a horrible attitude.”

But all that punishment was necessary, Damon said. As the trailer shows, this Bourne is an older, more physically and psychologically beat-up man than the one we’ve seen before.

“Paul Greengrass made the point, ‘The character has been off the grid for years,’ “Damon said. “‘If the first time the audience sees Bourne it looks like he’s been living really well and hasn’t been suffering, we have no movie. If I can see your cheekbones, if we discover a guy who’s haunted -- then we have a movie.’”

“Jason Bourne” is set to hit theaters on July 29.

Twitter: @joshrottenberg

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