Matt Damon looks back at the biggest payday he says he turned down
Matt Damon says the largest sum he ever walked away from was linked to a film he never made.
The actor has long talked about passing on James Cameron's 2009 hit Avatar. He says he was offered a tenth of the film's earnings, but he was already tied to work on The Bourne Ultimatum and felt he could not leave that team during a busy period of post production.
Cameron understood the choice, Damon says, even though it meant they did not make the film together.
Avatar went on to earn around 2.92 billion dollars around the world. That success has led to guesses that Damon could have made about 250 million dollars, though he has joked that all he got was a pat on the back. That figure was never locked in, since no deal was ever signed.
Cameron later gave a different version of events. In an interview in December 2025, he said there was never a formal offer of the role or a share of the earnings, and that it simply came down to timing. He also said he would still like to work with Damon one day.
Sam Worthington ended up playing Jake Sully, alongside Zoe Saldana as Neytiri, and returned for the later Avatar films.
For Damon, the real loss was not the money. He has said missing the chance to work with a director who makes films so rarely was the hardest part.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Source: EntertainmentNow
#MattDamon #Avatar #JamesCameron #Hollywood #CelebrityNews
Matt Damon says the largest sum he ever walked away from was linked to a film he never made.
The actor has long talked about passing on James Cameron's 2009 hit Avatar. He says he was offered a tenth of the film's earnings, but he was already tied to work on The Bourne Ultimatum and felt he could not leave that team during a busy period of post production.
Cameron understood the choice, Damon says, even though it meant they did not make the film together.
Avatar went on to earn around 2.92 billion dollars around the world. That success has led to guesses that Damon could have made about 250 million dollars, though he has joked that all he got was a pat on the back. That figure was never locked in, since no deal was ever signed.
Cameron later gave a different version of events. In an interview in December 2025, he said there was never a formal offer of the role or a share of the earnings, and that it simply came down to timing. He also said he would still like to work with Damon one day.
Sam Worthington ended up playing Jake Sully, alongside Zoe Saldana as Neytiri, and returned for the later Avatar films.
For Damon, the real loss was not the money. He has said missing the chance to work with a director who makes films so rarely was the hardest part.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Source: EntertainmentNow
#MattDamon #Avatar #JamesCameron #Hollywood #CelebrityNews
Matt Damon looks back at the biggest payday he says he turned down
Matt Damon says the largest sum he ever walked away from was linked to a film he never made.
The actor has long talked about passing on James Cameron's 2009 hit Avatar. He says he was offered a tenth of the film's earnings, but he was already tied to work on The Bourne Ultimatum and felt he could not leave that team during a busy period of post production.
Cameron understood the choice, Damon says, even though it meant they did not make the film together.
Avatar went on to earn around 2.92 billion dollars around the world. That success has led to guesses that Damon could have made about 250 million dollars, though he has joked that all he got was a pat on the back. That figure was never locked in, since no deal was ever signed.
Cameron later gave a different version of events. In an interview in December 2025, he said there was never a formal offer of the role or a share of the earnings, and that it simply came down to timing. He also said he would still like to work with Damon one day.
Sam Worthington ended up playing Jake Sully, alongside Zoe Saldana as Neytiri, and returned for the later Avatar films.
For Damon, the real loss was not the money. He has said missing the chance to work with a director who makes films so rarely was the hardest part.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Source: EntertainmentNow
#MattDamon #Avatar #JamesCameron #Hollywood #CelebrityNews
