John Krasinski Couldn’t Believe Matt Damon Rejected a $5.2B Zoe Saldana Franchise
Matt Damon is one of the biggest stars in Hollywood. He has achieved great success by making films of various genres. As one of the top-level actors in Hollywood, Damon is offered roles in multiple films. An aspect of being the most successful actor in Hollywood is an extremely busy schedule. The tight schedule causes a lot of problems for stars. They pass up on scripts, struggle to keep the work-life balance, and even miss out on some important moments in their personal life.
Something of this sort happened with Damon. He had to pass up the opportunity of featuring in a film franchise starring Zoe Saldana that went on to become the most successful film of all time. Sharing this fact with his long-time friend John Krasinski, got Damon quite an interesting reaction.
Matt Damon’s Story of Denying James Cameron’s Avatar
When the most successful director of all time asks you to do a film with them, you say yes. Especially if the director makes a film in ages, it becomes all the more of a grand opportunity. But when it came to Matt Damon getting offered the role of Jake Sully in James Cameron‘s Avatar, Damon did the opposite.
While the Oscar-winner had his reasons, as he was shooting one of the Bourne movies, what he missed was quite literally, an opportunity of a lifetime. Talking about the film at the Cannes Film Festival, Damon said (via Deadline):
“I was offered a little movie called Avatar, James Cameron offered me 10% of it. I will go down in history… you will never meet an actor who turned down more money.”
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Moreover, Damon was contractually bound to ensure the completion of the Bourne film he was shooting at the time. As the Good Will Hunting star shared in an interview,(via Variety):
“I had a contract. I was in the middle of shooting the ‘Bourne movie and I knew that we were going to need work at the end and I had to get it all the way to the finish line. I desperately wanted to work with Cameron. I mean, because he worked so rarely. I don’t know how I could have left all my friends in the lurch. You know what I mean?”
However, sharing the news of what he ended up rejecting to his friends was sort of a wild ride.
John Krasinski’s Reaction on Matt Damon Rejecting Avatar
John Krasinski has been pals with Damon for years. They have led some creative collaboration and shared a sense of brotherhood. However, when Damon broke the news of rejecting Avatar to his dear friend, The Office alum’s reaction was quite hilarious. As he shared the anecdote (via Variety):
“I told John Krasinski, we were writing this little movie a long time ago called ‘Promised Land’ and we were in my kitchen and it was a Saturday morning and we were on a break and I tell him about ‘Avatar,’ and he launches himself out of the chair,” Damon continued. “He starts pacing the kitchen, he goes, ‘Nothing in your life would be different today if you had done that movie, except you and I would be having this conversation in space.’”
Safe to say, Krasinski was disappointed in his friend but could not change the past.
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