Matt Damon Misses Out on $250 Million Payday After James Cameron’s Offer for Avatar Role

Hollywood superstar Matt Damon has revealed that he turned down the opportunity to work with renowned director James Cameron on the ‘Avatar' franchise.

Despite potentially missing out on a staggering $250 million payday, Damon stands by his decision and has no regrets about not continuing with the ‘Bourne' franchise.

Damon, who rose to fame in the hit film ‘The Bourne Identity', reportedly declined the role of Jake Sully, which eventually went to actor Sam Worthington, in Cameron's 2009 sci-fi epic ‘Avatar'.

In an interview with CNN's Chris Wallace, Damon explained that he couldn't abandon his friends and colleagues working on the ‘Bourne' movies.

Acknowledging the immense financial opportunity he passed up, Damon stated, “I'm sure it's the most money an actor ever turned down, you know?

I had a contract.

I was in the middle of shooting the ‘Bourne' movie, and I knew that we would need to continue working together until the end.

It wouldn't have been fair to leave them hanging.

I didn't want to do that.”

Expressing his admiration for Cameron's work, Damon admitted that he desperately wanted to collaborate with the esteemed director.

He emphasized Cameron's rarity in taking on projects, making the missed opportunity even more significant.

It is worth noting that ‘Avatar' remains the highest-grossing movie of all time, earning an astounding $2.9 billion worldwide.

According to ‘Female First UK', Damon disclosed that he jokingly shared the news of turning down ‘Avatar' with fellow actor John Krasinski.

Damon mentioned that Krasinski humorously speculated that Damon's life would be unchanged, except for the fact that they would be having their conversation in space if he had accepted the role.

When asked if knowing that ‘Avatar' would become the highest-grossing movie ever would have influenced his decision to prioritize it over the ‘Bourne' series, Damon dismissed the question as inconsequential.

He said, “No, it's much less significant.

That was just a joke.

Dumb…but no, I mean, I don't know how I could have abandoned my friends like that.

You know what I mean?

My favorite reaction to this was when I told John Krasinski, we were writing this little movie called ‘Promised Land' a long time ago.

We were in my kitchen on a Saturday morning during a break.”

Damon shared that Krasinski's response was filled with excitement and imagination.

Krasinski exclaimed, “OK, OK, OK. OK, OK.

Nothing in your life would be different today if you had done that movie, except you and I would be having this conversation in space.

I would have been the same guy; I just would have had a space station.”

In May, Damon referred to turning down a role in ‘Avatar' as the “dumbest thing an actor ever did.”

The role came with an offer of 10% of the film's box office profits, meaning he missed out on substantial earnings.

Additionally, Damon lost the opportunity to work alongside fellow lead actor Zoe Saldana, who played the character Neytiri.

While Damon expressed regrets about his decision, Saldana assured him that his career did not suffer as a result.

She playfully mentioned, “I've just always felt blessed that I was picked, that I worked really hard and auditioned.

I'm not Matt Damon.

I don't get to turn down Avatars.”

Reflecting on his career, Damon added, “I've probably done, like, 50 movies.

I've never been in a movie that made $1 billion.”

Must Read: Netizens Compare BTS' V's Charm and Popularity to Indian Spiritual Guru Baba Bageshwar Dham Sarkar, One Reacts, “Baba Ji Natural Product Se Hi Itta Handsome Lagte”