James Cameron Says Matt Damon Needs To 'Get Over' Decision To Opt Out Of 'Avatar' Role

Top movie director, James Cameron, has responded to Matt Damon's 2019 comments about missing out on a ten percent earnings profit by turning down "Avatar."

The filmmaker said during a recent interview that Damon had achieved great heights as an actor, and as such, he should stop beating himself up over turning down the role. Cameron also revealed that Damon might be brought on to star in future installments of the epic sci-fi film. 

"Avatar" ended up grossing nearly $3 billion, more than ten times its production budget. Its sequel, "Avatar: The Way Of Water," debuted on December 16 and has currently grossed over $400 million.

Read on to learn more.

During his appearance on BBC Radio 1, which aired on Friday on YouTube, Cameron addressed Damon's 2019 comments about regretting turning down a role in the sci-fi franchise, "Avatar."

"He's beating himself up over this, and I really think, Matt, you're kind of like one of the biggest movie stars in the world. Get over it," Cameron said, per Insider.

The veteran filmmaker then explained that the actor had declined the role so that he could reprise his "Bourne" character, which ultimately led to him losing out on a ten percent cut on the earnings of one of the biggest movies of all time.

"But he had to do another 'Bourne' film, which was on his runway, and there's nothing he could do about that, and so he had to regretfully decline."

In the interview, Cameron hinted that Damon might star in a subsequent installment, saying, "we have to do it so that the world is in equilibrium again." However, he asserted that the actor would not get the ten percent that was previously stipulated.

Cameron's response to Damon's comments comes three years after the actor had revealed in a GQ interview that he had turned down the offer to play the role of the film's lead star.

At the time, he said that the legendary director had assured him that the movie would succeed with or without a well-known actor but had nonetheless offered to give him ten percent of the movie's total profits.

Signing on would have also allowed Damon to work with Cameron for the first time and locked him in for the sequel. However, it would have strained his relationship with the showrunners and cast of "Bourne."

Damon recalled, "I've left more money on the table than any actor actually. I mean, the bigger thing still to this day, my bigger regret is – it would have caused a problem for [director] Paul Greengrass and for all my friends on The Bourne Ultimatum, so I couldn't do it."

In the GQ interview, Damon also opened up about telling fellow actor John Krasinski about rejecting the "Avatar" offer while they were working on writing the 2012 movie "Promised Land."

"He stands up, and he starts pacing in the kitchen. He goes, 'OK. OK. OK. OK. OK,"' Damon recalled how the revelation shocked the director.

The actor then revealed that Krasinski had told him that his life would have remained the same even if he opted to do the role.

'If you had done that movie, nothing in your life would be different. Nothing in your life would be different at all," Damon recounted Krasinski's comments. "Except that, right now, we would be having this conversation in space.'"

Ultimately, while he missed out on the opportunity, Damon said he'd still amassed a huge fortune throughout his career.

After its 2009 release, "Avatar" made nearly $3 billion in revenue, including the revenue from its re-release in Asian nations. Damon might have made up to $200 million after accounting for the budget, marketing costs, and the official $237 million budget if he had taken on the role.

Cameron has gone on to create a sequel titled "Avatar: The Way of Water," which debuted in cinemas on December 16.

Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Stephen Lang, Joel David Moore, CCH Pounder, Giovanni Ribisi, Dileep Rao, and Matt Gerald are among the cast members who return in their roles from the first movie, while Sigourney Weaver plays a new part. Kate Winslet, Cliff Curtis, Edie Falco, and Jemaine Clement are among the new cast members.

The film has already grossed over 400 million dollars since its release and is the tenth highest-grossing film of 2022.