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.
James Cameron Wouldn't Follow Chris Evans Or Channing Tatum Into Battle. 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.
Avatar director James Cameron offered the role to Matt Damon, with a 10% stake in the film's profits, but Damon turned the film down because of his commitment to The Bourne Ultimatum.
It is no secret that the Jason Bourne actor, soaring in popularity at the time, was one of Cameron's top choices to play Avatar protagonist Jake Sully. Matt Damon most likely would have accepted as well if it weren't for his commitment to an upcoming installment to the Bourne franchise.
James Cameron conducted an international search for the role, considering actors like Matt Damon, Chris Pratt, Chris Pine, and Jake Gyllenhaal, but eventually chose Sam Worthington.
However, Jake Gyllenhaal declined the role because he wasn't sure he was prepared for a project of the magnitude of Avatar. Speaking to French Magazine Figaro, he said, “When James and I discussed the project, I wasn't ready. In this business, if you don't listen to yourself, you're going to meet serious trouble.”
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.
"Of course recently, I was staring down the barrel of four more Avatarfilms and I was thinking of a good place, a good fit for Bill. Then, of course, he died unexpectedly before I made a presentation to him. That denied us that next chance to work together.
However, it's being highlighted that Avatar has been removed and is no longer available to stream on the service anywhere in the world. While unconfirmed, the reasoning for its removal is believed to be due to the fact that Avatar is being re-released in cinemas, ahead of the sequel, on 23 September.
But by the time the film had been greenlit in 2006, Carpenter had become too old for the role and was thus not cast. Cameron then began a worldwide search for actresses to play the role, with Q'orianka Kilcher being considered and Emily Blunt auditioning for the role. Eventually, Cameron cast Zoe Saldaña in the role.
Other notable actors who auditioned for the part include Chris Pratt and Chris Pine with the studio pushing Jake Gyllenhaal to play the role, but Gyllenhaal turned the film down because he wished to focus on Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2010) instead Ultimately, the three finalists for the role were Channing ...
Quaritch swears he will never give up on his revenge, provoking Jake to fight him for the second time. Colonel Miles Quaritch is the main antagonist of James Cameron's Avatar franchise.
The 52-year-old actor was offered the lead role in James Cameron's 2009 film Avatar, where he would have starred alongside Saldana and would have earned around $250 million. The role instead went to Sam Worthington, who played Jake Sully, while Saldana portrayed Neytiri.
Coded around Hollywood and WWE legend Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson, the creators actually wanted the character to be played by the Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle alum. It almost happened, until the the now-actor's agents informed the creators that Johnson was not interested in television at that point.
The first reason why Neteyam has four fingers while his siblings all have five fingers might be simple genetics. Since an avatar is a hybrid of Na'vi and human DNA, it's easy to imagine the genes that control the number of digits in the body competing with each other.
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.
Aided by a few sympathetic (human) scientists, Jake successfully leads the Na'vi in battle by driving out the predatory humans. In the film's closing scene, the Na'vi transfer Jake into the avatar body permanently, eradicating his disability and neatly delivering him from his original role as a white colonizer.
Kate Winslet performing underwater motion-capture on the set of the Avatar sequels. In 2017, it was confirmed that Winslet had been cast as Ronal, the Tsahìk of the Metkayina clan in the upcoming Avatar sequels.
