One of the most successful Hollywood movie franchises is the iconic Bourne films, which to date have produced five feature-length motion pictures, one TV miniseries and one spin-off television series. The march to Hollywood history begins in earnest in 2002 with The Bourne Identity, the first Universal Pictures entry which today has attained cult status among both movie fans and collectors. The Bourne Identity is based on the novel of the same name by Robert Ludlum (1927-2001). Published by Richard Marek in February 1980, The Bourne Identity was followed by the Ludlum sequels The Bourne Supremacy (1986) and The Bourne Ultimatum (1990). Following Ludlums death in 2001, author Eric Van Lustbader continued the popular series, beginning with The Bourne Legacy (2004), followed by ten more novels in the Bourne saga. The Bourne Identity was produced for the big screen by Doug Liman, Patrick Crowley and Richard N. Gladstein. Liman also directed from a screenplay penned by Tony Gilroy and William Blake Herron. John Powell provided the music score, with Oliver Wood as cinematographer and Saar Klein as film editor. Heading the cast was Matt Damon as the enigmatic Jason Bourne, aka David Webb. Also on board were Franka Potente as Marie Kreutz, Chris Cooper as Alexander Conklin, Clive Owen as The Professor, Brian Cox as Ward Abbott, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje as Wambosi, Gabriel Mann as Zorn and Julia Stiles as Nicky Parsons. Made for an estimated $68 million, The Bourne Identity began filming in October of 2000. International shooting locations included Paris, Prague, Rome, Mykonos, Zurich and Imperia. By some accounts, it was a difficult shoot, with the production going $8 million over its original budget of $60 million. The Bourne Identity opens in the Mediterranean Sea, where an Italian fishing boat encounters a man floating in the water with two bullet holes in his back. After removing the slugs, the crew discover that the unfortunate victim has amnesia but possesses deadly combat skills and can converse in several languages. Also discovered is a small laser disc implanted in his hip, which contains a safe deposit box number for a bank in Zurich. Following a brief convalescence on the fishing boat, the amnesiac heads to Switzerland where he is warmly greeted at the Zurich bank. Here he opens the safe deposit box, which contains a variety of currency, identification cards and passports in several different names, and a handgun. Placing everything in a duffel bag, except the gun, which he leaves in the box, the man begins using the American passport which identifies him as Jason Bourne. An employee at the bank has noted the arrival of Bourne and contacts Alexander Conklin following Bournes departure. Conklin is CIA, in charge of a black ops program codenamed Treadstone. Conklin and his team have been looking for the missing Bourne and alert police to Bournes presence in Zurich. Conklin also wants Bourne dead and assigns three Treadstone agents, Castel, Manheim and the Professor, to take Bourne out. Apparently, Bourne was an agent/assassin in the Treadstone program who had gone missing following his failure to kill a troublesome African dictator named Wambosi. While being pursued by Swiss police, Bourne takes refuge at the American consulate in Zurich. Here he is identified as a wanted man and evades U.S. Marine guards by exiting a fire escape and scaling down a building wall. He then meets up with a young German woman named Marie Kreutz, whom he had glimpsed at the American consulate. Bourne desperately needs a ride out of town and offers Marie $20,000 cash for the privilege. At first Marie refuses but then agrees to the arrangement as she is having financial difficulties due to a lost passport and other documents. Bourne and Marie flee Zurich, eventually winding up in Paris where the assassin Castel comes crashing through an apartment window and attempts to kill Bourne. The resourceful Bourne, however, subdues Castel who, rather than being interrogated by Bourne, leaps to his death from an upper story window. More assassination attempts follow, including one from the Professor in the French countryside where Bourne mortally wounds the man. Before he succumbs to his wounds, however, the assailant informs Bourne of their shared participation in Treadstone. Bourne eventually confronts Conklin at a safe house in Paris. Here, the amnesiac Bourne learns more of his hazy past and his deadly activities in Treadstone. Bourne has had enough of Treadstone and resigns from the program, warning Conklin to end his pursuit, but Conklins superior CIA Deputy Director Ward Abbott has other ideas. The Bourne Identity premiered in Los Angeles on June 6, 2002. Eight days later, on June 14, the film went into general release in the United States. Reviews for The Bourne Identity were mixed, with Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times among its principal backers, awarding the action movie three out of four stars. The Bourne Identity proved to be a hit at the box office, opening at No. 2 in the U.S. and eventually grossing over $214 million worldwide. Given its cult following and amazing staying power, The Bourne Identity and the memorabilia it generated is very popular with collectors today. Leading the way is the movies standard one sheet poster (27-by-40 inches). One example, a double-sided advance one sheet, in rolled very fine/near mint condition, sold at auction for $69. High on any collectors want list is the eight-card lobby set which features various scenes from the film. So named as these 11-by-14-inch color cards were displayed in movie theater lobbies to entice patrons, one set in near mint condition brought $63 at auction. One must-have item is a signed Robert Ludlum 1980 first edition hardcover book. One example, inscribed and autographed by the bestselling author, in near fine condition, soared to a high bid of $1,437.50 at auction. Movie props and clothing used in the picture are very big with collectors. The so-called hero pistol used by Matt Damon as Bourne, a deactivated 9mm Walther P5 Compact, sold at auction for $5,842.50. The prop pistol can be seen carried by the Professor in the farmhouse shootout sequence and later used by Bourne in the Treadstone safe-house and Paris stairwell shootout scenes. The pistol came with a Certificate of Authenticity (COA) from the films armorer plus a deactivation certificate. The brown and navy blue striped long-sleeve shirt worn by Matt Damon in the movie is a piece of film history that managed to make it to auction. Accompanied by a COA from Universal Pictures, this item brought a top bid of $768. Auction results and images are courtesy of Heritage Auctions, Dallas, Texas. William J. Felchner is a graduate of Illinois State University. His work has appeared in a number of periodicals, including True West, Hot Rod, Movie Collectors World, Big Reel, Old West, Corvette Quarterly, Goldmine, Autograph Collector, Illinois, Sports Collectors Digest, Frontier Times and Pennsylvania Magazine.