Hollywood star Matt Damon, who essays the role of Oppenheimer's military handler in Christopher Nolan's latest release Oppenheimer, has revealed he regrets turning down the offer to play the lead role in James Cameron's iconic movie Avatar.
Damon revealed he was also offered a percentage of the film’s earnings.
The first Avatar movie was released in 2009 and it shattered Box Office records across the globe.
Riding on its success, Cameron's Avatar: The Way of Water hit the silverscreen in 2022 amid positive reviews.
Appearing on Friday’s episode of CNN’s “Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace,” Damon spoke with the host about how in 2009, he was offered not just the lead role in James Cameron’s “Avatar,” but a percentage of the film’s earnings.
“It’s something awful like that,” Damon joked when asked about his $250 million calculation, going on to say he’s “sure it’s the most money an actor ever turned down.”
Damon said he was obligated to finish production on the “Bourne” series that he starred in between 2002 and 2016, and he didn’t want to “leave them in the lurch” to go do “Avatar.”
Eventually, Cameroon cast Sam Worthington in the lead role.
Damon's latest movie Oppenheimer released on Friday. The movie is directed by Christopher Nolan.
Based on the 2005 biography American Prometheus by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin, the film chronicles the life of J. Robert Oppenheimer, a theoretical physicist who was pivotal in developing the first nuclear weapons as part of the Manhattan Project, and thereby ushering in the Atomic Age.
Cillian Murphy stars as the titular character, with Emily Blunt as Oppenheimer's wife, Katherine "Kitty" Oppenheimer, Matt Damon as General Leslie Groves, Oppenheimer's military handler, and Robert Downey Jr. as Lewis Strauss, a senior member of the United States Atomic Energy Commission. Other members of the supporting cast include Florence Pugh, Josh Hartnett, Casey Affleck, Rami Malek, and Kenneth Branagh.
