Matt Damon “Never would’ve considered doing” $630M Movie That Got Him Oscar Nod if Not for Ridley Scott
Matt Damon’s star power is not a question at this point. According to Forbes, he is one of the most bankable stars in Hollywood. He rose to prominence with Good Will Hunting, which he also co-wrote with Ben Affleck and landed an Academy Award and a Golden Globe due to. From The Talented Mr. Ripley to the Bourne series, he has shown his versatile range time and time again.
He has been in several acclaimed movies like The Departed, Ford v Ferrari, Saving Private Ryan, The Martian, Interstellar, and most recently, Oppenheimer. He has numerous accolades to his name, which include an Academy Award and two Golden Globe Awards, in addition to nominations for three British Academy Film Awards and seven Primetime Emmy Awards.
There is one movie that remains as close to him as his epic success in the Bourne movies and that is The Martian. However, Matt Damon was almost passing on his $630 million movie, which even got him an acknowledgment from the Oscars if it were not for Ridley Scott.
The one that almost got away: Matt Damon on the movie he never would have considered doing had it not been for Ridley Scott
The Martian is a sci-fi movie by Ridley Scott that is based on the eponymous novel by Andy Weir. Made on a budget of $108 million, it went on to make around $630 million worldwide. It received countless praise for direction, screenplay, scientific accuracy, and background score, all of which were done to perfection.
The movie was nominated for seven awards at the 88th Academy Awards and to this date, is Ridley Scott’s highest-grossing project. A big part of the success was due to Matt Damon, who gave everything to this demanding role. However, Damon would have dipped out of the movie had it not been for Ridley Scott.
The Martian reminded him a lot of the Bourne movies. He found the process of filming for these two movies very similar. They both involved long sequences of him acting on his own with monologues addressed to nobody on-screen with him. While talking to the Smithsonian (via. Far Out Magazine), he opened up about how he would never have done The Martian had it not been for his faith in Ridley Scott’s vision.
“I end up on my own, usually, in those, at least in the second two Bourne films. But that was the appeal of this. It was so different from anything I’d ever done before. I have these long monologues to nobody. I never would’ve considered doing it had it not been for a world-class director. It’s a very risky thing to do, but I had faith in Ridley being able to strike the right tone for it.”
This was not the only thing that made Matt Damon apprehensive about while taking on the project. Just a year before The Martian, he played the role of a stranded astronaut in Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar. He was doubtful about whether he should take on a similar role. When he expressed his concern to Scott, he replied by saying, “Nobody gives a f**k about that!”
It ultimately paid off, as many media houses, including the New York Post, dubbed it Ridley Scott and Damon’s best work.
Matt Damon reveals his one condition to return for Bourne 6
The Bourne series is one of the most profitable franchises of all time. Known for its post-9/11 gritty tone, the dextrous use of shaky cam cinematography, and frenetic editing techniques, the movie series has managed to make $1.6 billion in total.
Universal is looking to make a sixth Bourne movie and they hope Matt Damon will reprise his famous legacy role. So far, the only thing known is that All Quiet On The Western Front director Edward Berger will helm the upcoming project. There has been no confirmation so far as to whether Matt Damon will reprise his role again. However, an old interview with Damon might hold the key to what condition he might return to the franchise. During an interview with the Toronto Sun, he said he had a basic but very important requirement to come back for another movie.
“It would have to be a pretty incredible story to get us all back on the horse.”
Although many might think that it is an easy task, Hollywood’s tendency to see franchise action movies as cash-grab opportunities often leads to poor storytelling. Even in high-budget movies, most of the budget gets allocated to the action, glitz, and glamor, and there is hardly any storytelling done at times. However, given Damon’s demands, one can hope the studio will take it seriously to get the trueborn Bourne back to his actions.
The Bourne movies are streaming on Prime Videos and The Martian is available to watch on Disney+.
