The Bourne Ultimatum have an overlap in their respective timeframes, but it is one that is easily explained. 2002's The Bourne Identity introduces Jason Bourne (Matt Damon), a man afflicted with amnesia who gradually comes to discover that he is a deadly assassin. Based on Robert Ludlum's eponymous 1980 novel, The Bourne Identity's success led to Damon returning as Bourne in numerous sequels, beginning with The Bourne Supremacy in 2004.
The Bourne Ultimatum would follow in 2007, with Bourne attempting to expose the illicit Treadstone assassin program. In The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Ultimatum, Jason Bourne also finds an ally in CIA deputy director Pamela Landy (Joan Allen). While a key scene of a phone call between Bourne and Landy shown in both films makes their timelines somewhat perplexing, it is actually very easy to clarify.
The Bourne Ultimatum Takes Place Six Weeks After Supremacy
The exact timeframe of The Bourne Ultimatum's story places it six weeks after the ending of The Bourne Supremacy, with the overlap between the two being established in the latter's ending scene. In The Bourne Supremacy's final scene, Landy reveals to Bourne that his real name is David Webb. Bourne, conversing with Landy from an adjacent building and looking into her office, then tells her "Get some rest Pam. You look tired", before vanishing into a street crowd.
This very scene is repeated fairly late in The Bourne Ultimatum, with more events happening in the background not seen in The Bourne Supremacy. Considering that The Bourne Ultimatum is explicitly set six weeks after its predecessor, some have been left confused by the scene's place in the chronology of the Bourne franchise. However, while used as an ending in The Bourne Supremacy, the scene of Bourne and Landy's conversation is not taking place exactly when it seems to.
Why Ultimatum And Supremacy Have Two Landy Scenes
While it would be easy to infer that Bourne and Landy's final scene in The Bourne Supremacy takes place directly after the ending of the movie's main events, it is actually a flash forward to six weeks in the future. The scene preceding it of Bourne visiting the daughter of one of his victims in Moscow helps puts the events of the two movies into context. Bourne would have had to have taken time to travel from the U.S. to Russia to begin with, while The Bourne Ultimatum itself begins with Jason Bourne facing new opponents in Moscow.
Essentially, The Bourne Supremacy's final scene takes place well into the story of The Bourne Ultimatum, while not overtly revealing the timeframe of Bourne and Landy's conversation. The Bourne Ultimatum may start six weeks after The Bourne Supremacy's main story concludes, but the scene of Bourne and Lady speaking is very relevant to the events of The Bourne Ultimatum. While this does require The Bourne Ultimatum to bend its timeline a bit to work the scene in, the inclusion of the ending scene of The Bourne Supremacy ultimately allows it to flesh out the story of the Jason Bourne movies.
