Director Paul Greengrass has said he would never make a James Bond film.

The British filmmaker has directed three movies in another blockbuster spy franchise – the Jason Bourne series, starring US actor Matt Damon in the title role – but insisted he is not interested in tackling one of 007′s big-screen outings.

He told Radio Times: “I’d never make a Bond movie. Look, I’m not trying to play one off against the other. And you can’t not respect the Bond franchise for its longevity.

“But the truth is that, in a world that’s increasingly divided between ‘Us’ and ‘Them’, Bond is always working for Them, the state. Whereas Bourne is – definitively – working for Us, the people.

“And everything you can do with the character – the attitude to power – stems from that difference.”

Paul Greengrass and Matt Damon on the red carpet
Paul Greengrass and Matt Damon (Michel Spingler/AP)

Paul, 60, said he once met with James Bond producer Barbara Broccoli.

“I respect their franchise,” he said. “But I’m a Bourne guy.”

Paul directed Matt in The Bourne Supremacy (2004) and The Bourne Ultimatum (2007), having taken over from Doug Liman who was at the helm of the first film, 2002′s The Bourne Identity.

He did not direct The Bourne Legacy in 2012, but has now returned to the franchise for the fifth film, Jason Bourne.

Paul admitted he was not sure he should go back to the action series.

“Initially, I was the Eeyore of it,” he said. “I was saying, ‘Why would we do another one?’ Matt said that there was an audience that was desperate for it. And I said: ‘Yeah, but they’ll be the first to complain if we make a bad one’.

“But, in the end, it’s lucky to have such a keen audience and there is something to be said for trying to please them.”

This week’s Radio Times is on sale on Tuesday July 19.

Jason Bourne opens in UK cinemas on July 27.