BOURNE 5 Adds NIGHTCRAWLER and ROGUE ONE Star Riz Ahmed

Matt Damon and Paul Greengrass started principal photography on Bourne 5 over two months ago, and the production is still adding cast members. Variety reports that up-and-coming actor Riz Ahmed has joined Damon, Tommy Lee Jones, Julia Stiles, Alicia Vikander, and Vincent Cassel in the spy thriller.

Ahmed broke out in last year's Nightcrawler playing Jake Gyllenhaal's partner, and went on to snag a role in Gareth Edwards' upcoming Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. Plot details are still being kept under wraps for the new Bourne movie, but Variety's sources tell them that Ahmed will play a CIA tech expert. The role was reportedly always meant for him, but scheduling conflicts with Rogue One had to be figured out before he could officially come on board. That explains the late addition.

As I mentioned in my Spectre review, one thing I'm growing a little weary of in movies lately is the theme of the surveillance state, and it seems like Bourne 5 is going to add to that trend. Here's what Damon said in the past about what the film will be like:

"Without giving too much of it away, it’s Bourne through an austerity-riddled Europe and in a post-Snowden world. It seems like enough has changed, you know? There are all these kinds of arguments about spying and civil liberties and the nature of democracy."

The still-untitled Bourne 5 will arrive in theaters on July 29th, 2016.