Remember when Matt Damon claimed in multiple interviews that he declined an offer to play the lead role in James Cameron's 'Avatar' in return for 10 per cent of the film's profit? Back then, Damon said that no other actor turned down a film with a higher amount of money than he did.
However, amid 'Avatar: Fire and Ash's release, Cameron has refuted Damon's claim. In a recent conversation with The Hollywood Reporter, the filmmaker revealed that while he talked about the project with Damon, he did not offer the role to the actor. Saying that an agreement was never formed with Damon for 'Avatar', Cameron revealed that the conversations between them did not reach that stage. However, Cameron did back Damon's claim about him rejecting the role because of his commitment to a Jason Bourne film. "It was simply an availability issue," Cameron said in his latest interview.
The filmmaker also asked Damon to stop saying that he offered the actor 10 per cent of the profit he would earn from the franchise. "If, in his mind, that’s what it would’ve taken for him to do Avatar, then it wouldn’t have happened," Cameron disclosed. Cameron also quipped that Damon need not blame himself any longer about missing out on Avatar. "You didn’t miss anything," Cameron said, referring to the Jason Bourne star.
Speaking of which, this part of the story seems to corroborate with Damon's account of the same. In the now-viral video where he speaks about the incident, Damon also said that while Cameron approached him for the role, the filmmaker also revealed that the film did not need a movie star and that its story itself was the star.