Famous Filmmaker Told Matt Damon To Stop Complaining
James Cameron jokes that Matt Damon needs to "get over" his missed opportunity of claiming 10% of the profits of Avatar.
There have been a lot of actors who turned down roles that ended up being massive, but Matt Damon turning down Avatar has to be the most financially devastating one. Damon would have received 10% of the box office profits, which would have netted him roughly $250 million. During a recent interview for Avatar: The Way of Water, director James Cameron laughed about the decision saying “And I really think you know, ‘Matt you’re kind of like one of the biggest movie stars in the world, get over it.” (via Yahoo! Entertainment)
Of course, there’s no hard feeling from James, who responded to the idea of Matt Damon showing up in a future Avatar movie “must do it,” before cheekily adding “but he doesn’t get 10%, f**k that.” Of course, it’s not really Damon’s fault that he couldn’t make the first movie. He had other obligations and was called up to finish his Bourne trilogy.
While Matt Damon’s Bourne movies weren’t quite as financially successful as Avatar, they were still well-regarded and helped Damon make plenty of money. Plus, it sounds like he may get a chance to appear in one of the many planned sequels to James Cameron’s money-printing franchise. Damon is slightly less rich because of his decision, but he’s doing just fine otherwise.
You won’t be seeing Matt Damon in Avatar: The Way of Water, but the movie is off to a promising start at the box office regardless. The film will likely surpass the $500 billion mark after the Tuesday box office numbers are tallied, meaning it’s well on its way to becoming another smash hit for Cameron. Apparently, the movie needs to become the fourth highest-grossing film of all time to break even, but considering its predecessor is in the number one spot this lofty goal isn’t as intimidating as it might be for other films.
Meanwhile, Matt Damon is busy doing non-Avatar films like the upcoming Christopher Nolan biopic Oppenheimer, which just released its first trailer. Oppenheimer follows the titular physicist who worked on the Manhattan Project and is credited with inventing the atomic bomb. Cillian Murphy will be starring as Oppenheimer with a supporting cast that includes Damon, Florence Pugh, Emily Blunt, Robert Downey Jr., Gary Oldman, Rami Malek, Kenneth Branagh, Benny Safdie, Dane DeHaan, Jack Quaid, Matthew Modine, Alden Ehrenreich, Josh Peck, Jason Clarke, David Dastmalchian, Alex Wolff, and James D’Arcy.
Matt Damon also reunited with his Good Will Hunting co-star and co-writer Ben Affleck for Air Jordan, which follows Nike shoe salesman Sonny Vaccaro as he pursues Michael Jordan to make one of the biggest shoe deals in sports history. Affleck will direct and star as Nike co-founder Phil Knight while Damon stars as Vaccaro. Jason Bateman, Viola Davis, Gustaf Skarsgard, Chris Tucker, Chris Messina, Marlon Wayans, and Julius Tennon also star.
Meanwhile, you can check out the latest Avatar film in theaters now and join the many people that will likely be seeing it in the near future. Just don’t count on seeing Matt Damon pop up as one of Avatar’s signature blue aliens. If the movie makes money, maybe Cameron will make good on his comments and put Damon in the next one.
