USA has given a series order to “Treadstone,” a TV spinoff of Universal’s “Bourne” film franchise that starred Matt Damon.
“Treadstone,” will explores the origin story and present-day actions of a CIA black ops program known as Treadstone — a covert operation that uses behavior modification protocol to turn its agents into nearly unstoppable superhuman assassins. “Treadstone” was one of the four pilots USA ordered in April, but decided to pick it up straight-to-series.
The first season, which begins production in 2019, follows sleeper agents across the globe as they’re mysteriously “awakened” to resume their deadly missions.
From Universal Cable Productions, “Treadstone” is written and executive produced by Tim Kring. Ramin Bahrani, who will direct the pilot, will also serve as an executive producer. Ben Smith and Jeffrey Weiner will executive produce on behalf of Captivate; Dan Friedkin and Bradley Thomas will executive produce on behalf of Imperative Entertainment; and Justin Levy will executive produce.
“As the #1 cable entertainment network for the past 12 years, USA Network is delivering a dynamic lineup of big, bold programming – and what could be bigger and bolder than the Treadstone mythology?,” said Chris McCumber, president, entertainment networks for NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment.
The “Bourne” franchise starred Damon as an amnesiac assassin in the Treadstone program, who tries to uncover the truth about his past.
The original series of films, based on Robert Ludlow’s novels of the same name, included “The Bourne Identity,” “The Bourne Supremacy” and “The Bourne Ultimatim.” A spinoff set in the same universe, “The Bourne Legacy,” starred Jeremy Renner and was released in 2012, before Damon returned to the role in 2016’s “Jason Bourne.”