On multiple occasions, Matt Damon has lamented turning down an offer to star in Avatar from James Cameron—an opportunity he has said would have earned him 10% of the gross profits from the original 2009 film, totaling more than $120 million.
However, the acclaimed filmmaker is now denying that such an offer was ever made.
“He was never offered the part,” James tells The Hollywood Reporter in an interview published on December 18. “I can’t remember if I sent him the script or not. I don’t think I did?”
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The Titanic director went on to explain that Matt was interested in working with him and found Avatar “intriguing,” but had already committed to a Jason Bourne movie and therefore couldn’t pursue the sci-fi epic.
“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,” James clarified.
“Now what he’s done is he’s extrapolated ‘I get 10 percent 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,” he added.
James also joked that Matt is now “off the hook” and doesn’t need to feel bad about it anymore, teasing: “It’s okay, buddy! You didn’t miss anything.”
Despite the confusion, there are no hard feelings. The director said he respects the Good Will Hunting actor and would love to work with him someday.
This back-and-forth has happened between Matt and James before.
“And I really think you know, ‘Matt you’re kind of like one of the biggest movie stars in the world, get over it.’ But he had to do another Bourne film which was on his runway and there was nothing we could do about that. So he had to regretfully decline,” James said back in 2022 during a BBC Radio interview.
Asked if Matt could have a cameo, he agreed, adding, “But he doesn’t get 10%, f-ck that.”
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