EXCLUSIVE: Universal Pictures is getting the wheels moving on a fifth installment of The Bourne Identity franchise. I’ve heard that studio has hired Anthony Peckham to script a film that is designed to continue the storyline of Aaron Cross, the character that Jeremy Renner played in the 2012 Tony Gilroy-directed Bourne Legacy. Cross was among a group of agents who took part in Operation Outcome. Medically enhanced to be smarter and physically superior, the agents were targeted for termination. Renner starred with Rachel Weisz and Edward Norton. Frank Marshall and Captivate Entertainment’s Ben Smith and Jeffrey Weiner are producing the new one.

This is all early days, but the studio wants to continue to build the spinoff character and storyline hatched by Tony Gilroy, who was so important in establishing Matt Damon‘s Jason Bourne character in those early films from the books by the late Robert Ludlum. It doesn’t sound like they’ve made headway with Damon about a reprise (he has said he won’t do it without Paul Greengrass, and doesn’t know where the character goes after regaining the memory loss that came back by the end of the third film). Universal, which has a seventh installment of all time top grossing The Fast And The Furious in the works as well as new installments of The Mummy and Jurassic Park, counts Bourne as one its most important franchises. The Bourne Legacy grossed $276 million worldwide.

Peckham’s recent scripting credits include Sherlock Holmes and Invictus, as well as Yucatan for Team Downey, Twilight Zone, and Deep Sea Cowboys. The scribe is repped by WME and Anonymous.