James Cameron tells Matt Damon to “get over” his guilt for turning down a role in the 2009 Avatar movie. Avatar: The Way of Water finally hit theaters this December 16, and it already looks victorious at the box office after it grossed $180M on its opening weekend.
With a blockbuster movie like this offering someone a role, it would be difficult to decline, and Matt Damon still beats himself up for turning it down. Apparently, the Bourne actor still regrets the wasted opportunity up to this day.
Matt Damon Still Kicks Himself For Passing On A Role In Avatar
In a BBC Radio 1 interview, James Cameron revealed that Damon still regrets refusing to take a role in the original movie. The Martian actor was offered a whopping $290M paycheck, and a chance to be a part of the world’s highest-grossing movie of all time. The director said:
“Matt, you know, you’re kinda like one of the biggest movie stars in the world. Get over it.”
During the shooting of the Avatar film, Damon was set to do another Bourne project. To offset this loss, Cameron joked that he might give the actor a chance to appear in one of the sequels “so that the world is in equilibrium again.” Damon shared in an interview in 2019 that by passing up on the Avatar role, he left “more money on the table than any actor.”
In his interview with GQ, Damon revealed:
“And when he offered it to me, he goes, ‘Now, listen. I don’t need anybody. I don’t need a name for this, a named actor. If you don’t take this, I’m going to find an unknown actor and give it to him, because the movie doesn’t really need you.”
Cameron promised to offer him ten percent of the total income of the movie, which ended up conquering the box office with $2.9B in revenue. The actor said the most painful part was losing the chance to ever work with Cameron because the director works infrequently. Damon found comfort in the thought that as long as there was food on the table and his children are eating, he is doing okay.
James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water Opens Big This Weekend
The sequel surpassed its predecessor’s opening after it arrived in theaters this Friday, marking The Way of Water as Cameron’s highest opening of all time. Experts project the film to gross an estimated $525M on its opening weekend.
The success of The Way of Water will determine the fate of the Avatar franchise, and it seems, so far, in good standing. Cameron previously said that the film would require a worldwide income of more than $2B to break even due to its colossal budget. This will also ensure the continuation of the planned sequels.
Avatar: The Way of Water is now playing in theaters worldwide.
Source: CBR
