Matt Damon regrets losing out on roughly $250 million after turning down a role in “Avatar,” but director James Cameron is sick of hearing him whine about it and thinks the actor should “get over it.” Damon revealed a few years ago that scheduling conflicts meant he couldn’t take part in the 2009 animated feature because he was filming one of the Bourne movies. That was a very costly decision, but given that he’s pretty rich anyway, why is he complaining?
- Matt Damon was offered 10% of total earnings for “Avatar.” Before you sign up to a project, you have no idea how much that might be. Given that the film eventually raked in more than $2.5 billion at the international box office, that’s a hefty amount of money he could have made. The role ultimately went to Sam Worthington (who likely didn’t get offered quite such a good deal).
- James Cameron thinks Matt Damon needs to “get over it.” While Damon could have taken home a pretty sweet paycheck, he’s been in plenty of high-grossing movies and certainly isn’t struggling for money. That’s probably why Cameron wants him to move on with his life (lovingly, of course).
- Sometimes schedules just don’t line up. As Cameron explained in an interview on BBC Radio 1: “[Damon is] beating himself up over this. 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.” In other words, stuff happens.
- That being said, Matt Damon is always welcome in a future “Avatar” film. Asked if Cameron would welcome him back, the director revealed that he’d love a collaboration. However, Damon shouldn’t expect such a generous pay offer. “Must do it. We have to do it so the world is in equilibrium again. But he doesn’t get 10%, f**k that,” he joked.
