Matt Damon once turned down the biggest salary ever offered for a role — a sweet $250 million deal
Matt Damon admitted that he turned down the chance to be paid more than any actor for a single role. While Damon is known for many franchise films, he admitted to having a bit of regret for letting a movie slip by him. The Academy Award winner regrets turning down "Avatar", the highest-grossing film by James Cameron.
Cameron was reportedly willing to give up 10 percent of the whole film if Damon would star in it. However, he had to turn it down. "James Cameron offered me 10 percent of Avatar if I did it, but I was working on post-production for The Bourne Ultimatum," he told Lad Bible.
Matt Damon turned down the lead role in James Cameron's 2009 film "Avatar", which included an offer of 10% of the film's box office profits. If he had accepted the role, he could have earned over $250 million given the film's immense box office success. pic.twitter.com/l8MpAynwzW
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The film went on to make more at the box office as compared to any other movie in history at the time. Damon would have made a killing. According to reports, had he agreed to play the role of Jake Sully, which later went to Sam Worthington, he would have made around $250 million.
Damon has spoken about the movie quite a few times. In an interview with Christian Bale for GQ back in 2019, he said, "I've left more money on the table than any actor actually. Cameron said to me in the course of that conversation, 'Well, you know, I've only made six movies'," he said. "I didn't realize that ... I realized in having to say no that I was probably passing on the chance to ever work with him," he added. "So that sucked and that's still brutal," he said.
In another interview with IGN, he said, "I couldn't do it – but Cameron said to me in the course of that conversation, "Well, you know, I've only made six movies." I didn't realize that. He works so infrequently, but his movies, you know all of them. So it feels like he's made more than he has. I realized in having to say no that I was probably passing on the chance to ever work with him. So that sucked and that's still brutal. But my kids are all eating. I'm doing OK," he added.
Avatar went on to earn $2.78 billion and was the highest-grossing movie of all time up until Avengers Endgame was released. There are currently four Avatar sequels in the pipeline at 20th Century Fox, with each new movie in the franchise set to be released every other year between December 2021 and December 2027, via IGN.
American actor, writer, and producer Matt Damon is known for movies like "Good Will Hunting" and of course the "Bourne" franchise for which he had to let go of "Avatar." Since then he has consistently been one of the highest-earning Hollywood actors. As of 2024, Damon reportedly has a net worth of $170 million. His net worth is attributed to his works in films like The Talented Mr. Ripley," "The Departed," and "Saving Private Ryan."
