It’s no secret that Ocean’s Eleven star Matt Damon has claimed that he almost starred in 2009’s Avatar. He has talked about it in the past, but now James Cameron has broken his silence about the casting that would have seen Damon play the role that eventually went to Sam Worthington. Apparently, there were conversations, but Cameron says that Damon is lying about getting the final offer to play Jake Sully in the sci-fi series, and receiving a share of the film’s profits.
Per The Hollywood Reporter, Cameron has addressed Damon’s claims, saying that they talked about the Jake Sully role, but the actor was too busy playing Jason Bourne. “He felt compelled to call me personally and tell me,” the director states. “He said he didn’t want it to come from the agent — that’s an honorable guy. So all respect to Matt. I’d love to work with him someday. But that never happened. It was a conflation of different things that were happening.”
In a video that has since resurfaced, Damon talks about rejecting Avatar, saying, “Jim Cameron called me — he offered me 10% of Avatar.” The actor added back then:
“You will never meet an actor who turned down more money than me… I was in the middle of shooting the Bourne movie and I would have to leave the movie kind of early and leave them in the lurch a little bit and I didn’t want to do that. [Cameron] was really lovely, he said, ‘If you don’t do this, this movie doesn’t really need you. It doesn’t need a movie star at all. The movie is the star, the idea is the star, and it’s going to work. But if you do it, I’ll give you 10% of the movie.'”
However, according to Cameron’s latest comments, Damon was not being totally truthful. Although he does remember talking to him about the project, it never went beyond initial conversations because Damon was committed to the Bourne franchise. What Cameron is fully disputing is that they reached an agreement about the actor getting some of the film’s profits:
“He was never offered the part. I can’t remember if I sent him the script or not. I don’t think I did. Then we wound up on a call, and he said, ‘I love to explore doing a movie with you. I have a lot of respect for you as a filmmaker. [Avatar] sounds intriguing. But I really have to do this Jason Bourne movie. I’ve agreed to it, it’s a direct conflict, and so, regretfully, I have to turn it down.’
“But he was never offered. There was never a deal. We never talked about the character. We never got to that level. It was simply an availability issue.”
What’s most interesting about Damon’s claims is that if they were true, he would have lost an incredible amount of money by rejecting the role in Avatar. The first film made an impressive $2.9 billion at the box office, earning the title for highest-grossing film of all time. If Damon is telling the truth, then he lost a paycheck of $290 million. That’s without considering the sequel, Avatar: The Way of Water, which would have represented approximately another $234 million (in case the supposed agreement also included the sequel). Cameron added:
“Now what he’s done is he’s extrapolated ‘I get 10% of the gross on all my films.’ And if, in his mind, that’s what it would’ve taken for him to do Avatar, then it wouldn’t have happened. Trust me on that. So he’s off the hook and doesn’t have to beat himself up anymore. Matt, it’s okay, buddy! You didn’t miss anything.”
The Future of the ‘Avatar’ Franchise Enters a Defining Moment
Avatar: Fire and Ash officially premieres in theaters worldwide tomorrow. The film arrives amid concerns about the future of the franchise, as Cameron’s original map included the production of parts 4 and 5, but he has claimed that the future depends on how the latest film performs with audiences.
The projections are not bad, but the last Avatar films had production budgets of more than $400 million. To make a profit, Avatar 3 will have to blow up the box office and have a performance similar to the first two entries. The problem is that the dynamics of the industry have changed, people don’t go to theaters like they used to, and major productions like Avatar have become risky.
Nevertheless, Avatar: The Way of Water arrived in theaters in 2022, and audiences were still getting used to the new rules of cinema attendance in the post-COVID-19 era, and it still grossed over $2 billion. This proves that anything is possible with the sci-fi franchise created by Cameron, which consolidated his status as one of cinema’s most reliable filmmakers.
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