Matt Damon's decision to turn down James Cameron's 2009 space epic “Avatar,” which remains the highest-grossing movie of all time with $2.9 billion worldwide, remains one of the more infamous casting what-ifs of recent blockbuster history.
Matt Damon recently revealed how he was filled with regrets when he turned down 'Avatar'. Despite wanting to work with James Cameron, the actor could not sign up for this film due to his commitment to the Bourne films.
Matt Damon shared that he turned down a $250 million payday to star in Avatar because he didn't want to leave his contract for a Jason Bourne movie that was in production. Matt Damon was thinking about his Bourne legacy.
How much money did Matt Damon turn down for Avatar?
Matt Damon 'Desperately Wanted to Work' with James Cameron, but 'Bourne' Led Him to Turn Down $250 Million 'Avatar' Deal. “I don't know how I could have left all my friends in the lurch," Damon said of the "Bourne" movies that kept him from joining the "Avatar" franchise.
5) Sam Worthington: The highest-paid actor in the cast - How much did he earn for his role as Jake Sully? Sam Worthington, who returns to the cast as Jake Sully, received the highest salary among the actors.
A few years ago in an interview with Empire Magazine, James Cameron himself revealed how he had ultimately shortlisted a total of 3 finalists for the role of Avatar's Jake Sully, namely Sam Worthington, Chris Evans, and Channing Tatum.
But it turns out the 'hair sex' scene was never part of the theatrical cut at all, it was actually in the Avatar extended version that was released in 2010. The extended version is also included on home video, DVD and Blu-ray.
Not only was Worthington paid the sum of $10 million for his work on the sequel, but he gets five percent of the box office gross, too (via GQ). As Avatar: The Way of Water made over $2 billion, Worthington earned an extra $100 million.
Brad Pitt Turned Down the Offer to Play Jason Bourne
The 2002 film The Bourne Identity introduced movie lovers to Jason Bourne, a man suffering from psychogenic amnesia and struggling to discover his identity amid a secret CIA conspiracy.
Several big-name actors almost played Jake Sully in Avatar. A-listers such as Matt Damon, Chris Pratt, Chris Pine, and Jake Gyllenhaal were all in consideration for the part. Cameron conducted an international search which slowly saw its contenders whittled down to just a handful.
Matt Damon Explained Why He Really Regrets Turning Down "Avatar," And I Get It. We already knew that Matt had passed on the role and a big payday — and now we know how he feels about it.
Cameron and his Lightstorm Entertainment were sued in 2011 by Eric Ryder, who alleged he had spent two years developing a movie at Lightstorm that became the basis for “Avatar.” Ryder said he wrote an environmentally themed movie script called “K.R.Z. 2068” and created treatments, photos, 3D imagery and characters.
You've probably seen 'Avatar. ' But did you know Matt Damon was offered a role--and 10 percent of the film? In 2006, Matt Damon was on a film set when he got a call from Jim Cameron. The Terminator and Titanic director wanted Damon to star in his upcoming film, Avatar.
Before Leonardo DiCaprio landed the role of Jack Dawson, Johnny Depp was offered to star in the lead role in Titanic, but he turned it down. Titanic was the highest-grossing movie ever before being overtaken by Avatar, another James Cameron masterpiece.
It is known that Matt Damon, Chris Pratt, Chris Pine, Chris Evans, Channing Tatum, and Jake Gyllenhaal are some actors almost cast as Jake Sully in Avatar. Pratt and Pine stated their auditions did not go well, while Cameron mentioned in a 2021 interview with Empire that Evans and Tatum were finalists.
How much did Sigourney Weaver make for Avatar? Sigourney Weaver was reportedly paid $11 million for her performance in 2009's Avatar. This is more money than the two lead actors, Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldana, were reportedly paid, most likely due to Weaver's star power.
Damon turned down the film despite an offer that included receiving 10% of the box office back end, which would've meant a $250 million payday for him. During a recent interview with Chris Wallace, the “Avatar” offer got brought up again and prompted Damon to explain his thought process behind turning it down.
The reference implies that a Na'vi's queue may be considered an intimate area of the body. Removing the queue of Pandoran wildlife has been shown to have severe effects. Despite this, It is unknown what would canonically happen if a Na'vi queue was cut off, but it is still implied to be serious.
No, Avatar: The Way of Water doesn't have an extra scene during or after the credits. We don't get any Easter eggs or a "Jake Sully will return" message either, it just cuts to the studio logo.
While before, the scene (which appears at the 2:32:45 mark of the movie) simply saw the humans making their way onto ships, the new version is a seemingly cut sequence that sees Giovanni Ribisi's Parker Selfridge walk up to Zoe Saldana's Neytiri and Worthington's Jake and say "You know this isn't over" before the Na'vi ...
Ultimately, the three finalists for the role were Channing Tatum, Chris Evans, and Sam Worthington, with Cameron ultimately going with Worthington based on his read of the climactic speech, saying: I really liked Channing's appeal. I liked Chris' appeal. They were both great guys.
James Cameron's Avatar script actually has Jake Sully aged 22 when he's first introduced, not 28. However, that's when he's back on Earth, getting into a bar fight that constitutes Avatar's most important deleted scene.
Samuel Henry John Worthington (born 2 August 1976) is an Australian actor. One of the highest grossing actors of all time, he is known for playing Jake Sully in the Avatar franchise, Marcus Wright in Terminator Salvation, and Perseus in Clash of the Titans and its sequel Wrath of the Titans.
