According to James Cameron, one of Hollywood’s most notorious viral stories is apocryphal.
THR reports that the “Avatar” director denies actor Matt Damon’s claim that he turned down the lead role of Jake Sully in Cameron’s 2009 blockbuster, an offer that included 10% of the film’s box office gross. Some quick math based on the film’s $2.92 billion take indicates Damon allegedly lost out on hundreds of millions of dollars on the first movie alone. Add in the box office numbers for 2022’s “Avatar: The Way Of Water” and that number climbs even higher. Talk about a major misstep in one’s movie career, right?
Well, Cameron refutes Damon’s story and claims the real one is “somewhat different.” “He was never offered the part,” Cameron told THR. “I can’t remember if I sent him the script or not. I don’t think I did? Then we wound up on a call and he said, ‘I love to explore doing a movie with you. I have a lot of respect for you as a filmmaker. [”Avatar”] sounds intriguing. But I really have to do this Jason Bourne movie. I’ve agreed to it, it’s a direct conflict, and so, regretfully, I have to turn it down.’ But he was never offered. There was never a deal. We never talked about the character. We never got to that level. It was simply an availability issue.”
On top of that, Cameron denies he ever offered Damon a cut of the “Avatar” earnings. “Now what he’s done is he’s extrapolated ‘I get 10 percent of the gross on all my films,’” the director continued. “And if, in his mind, that’s what it would’ve taken for him to do “Avatar,” then it wouldn’t have happened. Trust me on that.”
Damon’s “Avatar” story first went viral after a 2019 GQ interview, and he’s since recalled it in other formats, like a 2021 Cannes masterclass. Here’s his take from that 2021 conversation: “Jim Cameron called me — he offered me 10 percent of “Avatar. “ You will never meet an actor who turned down more money than me … I was in the middle of shooting the Bourne movie and I would have to leave the movie kind of early and leave them in the lurch a little bit and I didn’t want to do that … [Cameron] was really lovely, he said: ‘If you don’t do this, this movie doesn’t really need you. It doesn’t need a movie star at all. The movie is the star, the idea is the star, and it’s going to work. But if you do it, I’ll give you 10 percent of the movie.’”
That’s not how Cameron remembers it, though. While the director praised Damon’s “ethical” stance on not backing out of a prior film commitment, he reiterated that it’s simply untrue that the actor was ever offered part of the movie’s gross. “He felt compelled to call me personally and tell me; he said he didn’t want it to come from the agent — that’s an honorable guy,” Cameron said. “So, all respect to Matt. I’d love to work with him someday. But that never happened. It was a conflation of different things that were happening.”
Of course, Cameron filmed the first “Avatar” nearly two decades ago now, with Sam Worthington taking on the Jake Sully role in the 2009 film and its subsequent two sequels (notably without the 10% of the box-office gross stipulation in his contract). And Damon has since starred in several other blockbusters and hit films; none with the gross of an “Avatar” film, but it’d be hard to argue the actor’s career has dipped in quality, outside of one or two misfires in the 2010s. So let’s chalk up Damon’s “Avatar” story to an amusing, self-deprecating fiction that’s a charming thing to recount at expos and q&a’s, but nothing more.
That’s Cameron’s stance on the situation, anyway. “He’s off the hook and doesn’t have to beat himself up anymore,” Cameron joked to THR. “Matt, it’s okay, buddy! You didn’t miss anything.”
“Avatar: Fire & Ash” hits theaters everywhere today.
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