- - James Cameron denies Matt Damon missed out on huge “Avatar” payday: 'That never happened'

Wesley StenzelDecember 19, 2025 at 5:30 AM

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Ilya S. Savenok/Getty; 20th Century studios via everett

Matt Damon in New York City on Sept. 30, 2024; Jake Sully in 'Avatar'Key points -

Matt Damon repeatedly said that he missed out on hundreds of millions of dollars by turning down Avatar.

Director James Cameron says that Damon never would have made that much if he'd joined the project.

Cameron also said that talks were more preliminary than Damon suggested: "He was never offered the part."

Matt Damon has repeatedly said that he missed out on a massive payday by turning down the lead role in Avatar — but director James Cameron says that isn't the case.

After the Good Will Hunting actor repeatedly said that he turned down an offer to take 10 percent of the gross profit of the 2009 sci-fi blockbuster to star as protagonist Jake Sully — an amount that would have likely exceeded $120 million — Cameron is setting the record straight.

"He was never offered the part," the Titanic filmmaker 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.'"

Joe Maher/Getty; John Phillips/Getty

James Cameron in London on Dec. 6, 2022; Matt Damon in Venice on Sept. 10, 2021

Cameron said that Damon rejected the notion of appearing in Avatar almost immediately due to a prior commitment. "'I really have to do this Jason Bourne movie,'" Cameron recalled Damon saying. "'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."

The Terminator director then hypothesized why Damon expected his hypothetical Avatar payday would be huge. "Now what he's done is he's extrapolated 'I get 10 percent of the gross on all my films,'" he speculated.

However, Cameron said that the Avatar production never would have offered Damon his usual 10 percent in the first place. "If, in his mind, that's what it would've taken for him to do Avatar, then it wouldn't have happened," the filmmaker said. "Trust me on that."

A representative for Damon did not immediately respond to Entertainment Weekly's request for comment.

Cameron jokingly added that Damon shouldn't feel bad about missing out on hundreds of millions of dollars anymore since it was never on the table to begin with. "He's off the hook and doesn't have to beat himself up anymore," the Aliens director said. "Matt, it's okay, buddy! You didn't miss anything."

Jasin Boland/Universal

Matt Damon in 'The Bourne Ultimatum'

Damon previously told Chris Wallace that joining Avatar would have forced him to exit The Bourne Ultimatum's production early. "I knew that we were gonna need work at the end, and I had to get it all the way to the finish line, and I would have to leave the movie kind of early, and leave them in the lurch a little bit," he said in 2023. "And I didn't wanna do that. I desperately wanted to work with Cameron, 'cause he works so rarely."

Cameron told THR that he respected Damon's decision. "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," the filmmaker 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."

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Sam Worthington ultimately played Jake Sully in Avatar, which went on to become the highest-grossing film of all time at the global box office. Damon would later go to space in films like Elysium and The Martian, but has yet to head to Pandora in either of Cameron's sequels.

Avatar: Fire and Ash is now playing in theaters.

on Entertainment Weekly

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