Revealed on CNN Broadcast Program Appearance
"Declined Leading Role Due to Filming This Series"
Hollywood actor Matt Damon, famous for his role as Jason Bourne in the 'Bourne' series, revealed that he turned down the lead role in the movie 'Avatar,' missing out on over 320 billion won in earnings.
On the 21st (local time), Matt Damon appeared on CNN's program 'Conversations with Chris Wallace' and disclosed this. Damon was offered the lead role in Avatar along with a percentage of the box office revenue, and the total amount he could have earned from this deal is estimated at $250 million (approximately 322.3 billion won).
Actor Matt Damon attending the premiere of the film 'Oppenheimer' held in London, UK on the 13thPhoto by AFP Yonhap News
The reason Matt Damon declined the Avatar role at the time was because he was filming the Bourne series, which was released from 2002 to 2016. The Bourne series is an action thriller spy film series featuring Jason Bourne, an assassin suffering from amnesia, with titles including 'The Bourne Identity,' 'The Bourne Supremacy,' 'The Bourne Ultimatum,' 'The Bourne Legacy,' and 'Jason Bourne.'
He said, "I had to finish filming the Bourne series," and added, "I didn't want to put them (the Bourne series production team) in a difficult position by going to do Avatar."
Subsequently, the lead role of 'Jake Sully' in Avatar, which Matt Damon almost took, went to Sam Worthington. James Cameron's 2009 film Avatar earned a massive $2.9237 billion (approximately 3.7687 trillion won) worldwide, making it the highest-grossing film of all time.
Matt Damon joked that the 320 billion won he missed out on "is probably the largest amount an actor has ever turned down," calling it "incredible." CNN explained that Damon might not be the actor who has declined the highest amount of pay in Hollywood.
Sean Connery (1930?2020), famous for his role as James Bond in the '007' series, was reportedly offered the role of the wizard Gandalf in Peter Jackson's blockbuster fantasy film trilogy 'The Lord of the Rings' but declined because he "didn't like it." The fee he was offered was said to be $3,000 (approximately 387 million won) per film plus 15% of the box office revenue. CNN calculated that if he had accepted the offer, he could have earned about $450 million (approximately 580.1 billion won).
Matt Damon (left), who appeared in the movie 'Oppenheimer' [Photo by Universal Pictures, AP Yonhap News]
Meanwhile, Matt Damon appeared in Christopher Nolan's film 'Oppenheimer,' which was released in the United States on the same day. Oppenheimer is a biographical film about physicist Julius Robert Oppenheimer, who led the secret 'Manhattan Project' to develop nuclear weapons during World War II. In this film, Matt Damon plays the role of U.S. Army officer Leslie Groves.
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