It's been a good year for Riz Ahmed, the London-born actor who played second fiddle to Jake Gyllenhaal's lunatic cameraman in last year's pretty damn good Nightcrawler. Earlier this year, the relatively unknown actor, who made a name in the cult dark comedy Four Lions, got cast in the hugely anticipated Star Wars Anthology film Rogue One, which will be helmed by Godzilla helmer Gareth Edwards, in a (surprise) unspecified role. Now comes news from Variety that the thespian has joined the cast of the new untitled Jason Bourne film, currently being filmed with Paul Greengrass behind the camera and Matt Damon returning in the title role after Jeremy Renner's not-half-bad one-off for the franchise, The Bourne Legacy. (Renner, of course, didn't play the title character, but was attached to the same program that Damon's assassin was.)

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Image via Universal Pictures

Ahmed joins the likes of Alicia Vikander, Tommy Lee Jones, Vincent Cassell, and Julia Stiles in the latest take on Jason Bourne, and the details on who exactly all these great actors, save Stiles, will play and what the story itself will involve has been kept very quiet. Early reports suggest that Ahmed will play a CIA technician, working to keep an eye on Bourne, but these reports are shaky at best. As Variety reports, there were initial timing concerns involving Ahmed's commitment to Rogue One that might have derailed his involvement with Bourne 5, but everything has since been worked out, allowing Ahmed to appear in what will likely be two of the biggest movies of the next few years.


Meanwhile, Ahmed recently wrapped the marital infidelity drama Blackbird, alongside Rooney Mara and Rogue One co-star Ben Mendelsohn, which is set to see release sometime next year, at least in London. Considering how crucial he was to the success of Nightcrawler, his involvement in all of these productions certainly boosts enthusiasm for all of them, though I doubt Bourne 5 or Rogue One need much of a bolster at this point.

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Image via Roadside Attractions