James Cameron joked about the fact that Matt Damon missed out on nearly £1.5billion when he turned down a role in Avatar in 2009.
In 2021, the actor attended a panel at the Cannes Film Festival and revealed that he was quoted for the feature film and that the filmmaker even offered him 10% of the film’s profits, but he ultimately declined.
What he didn’t expect, however, was that Avatar would become the highestgrossing film in the history of cinema, grossing more than US$2.9 billion (approx. R$15.5 billion). He could have made nearly BRL 1.5 billion that way if he accepted the offer.
In a recent BBC Radio 1 interview, Cameron was asked about Damon and immediately burst out laughing. “He blamed himself for it. But I think Matt you’re one of the biggest movie stars, get over it,” he joked.
“He had to make another film out of it [Jason] Bourne, who was on schedule and he couldn’t do anything about it, so unfortunately he had to cancel,” the director continued.
Damon starred in the action franchise about a former CIA agent. He played the character in five films between 2002 and 2016.
Cameron even teased that Damon could appear in upcoming Avatar sequels following The Path of Water, which are currently in theaters. “We have to do this to bring the world back into balance. But this time he doesn’t get 10%.