AssetID: 55351731
Headline: UNCAPTIONED: James Cameron disputes Matt Damon's claim that he was offered lead role in Avatar
Caption: James Cameron disputes Matt Damon's claim that he was offered lead role in Avatar. James Cameron quipped that Matt Damon doesn't have to "beat himself up anymore" because he "didn't miss anything”. The Bourne Identity actor hit headlines by claiming that Cameron offered him the lead role of Jake Sully as well as 10 per cent of the film's gross but he turned it down due to a scheduling conflict with a Bourne movie. As 2009's Avatar and its 2022 sequel, The Way of the Water, are the first and third highest-grossing movies of all time, taking over $2 billion each at the box office, Damon believes he lost out on hundreds of millions of dollars. However, Cameron disputed the story in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, insisting that Damon was never offered the part of Jake Sully, who Sam Worthington ultimately played. ”I can't remember if I sent (Damon) 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," the Titanic filmmaker claimed. ”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.” He added, "Now what he's done is he's extrapolated 'I get 10 per cent of the gross on all my films.' 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.” The Terminator filmmaker then quipped that Damon doesn't have to "beat himself up anymore" because he "didn't miss anything”. Cameron insisted that he respects the Ocean's Eleven star for calling him personally to turn it down instead of going through his agents. ”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," he stated. The latest Avatar film, Fire and Ash, is in cinemas now. Instructions: THIS VIDEO MUST NOT BE EDITED FOR LENGTH TO COMBINE WITH OTHER CONTENT
Keywords: James Cameron,Matt Damon,role,Avatar,Bourne Identity,actor,Jake Sully,The Way of the Water,sequel,highest-grossing,movies,The Hollywood Reporter,Ocean's Eleven star,Fire and Ash
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