A career mishap cost Matt Damon $250 million—and it proves that everyone is just winging it

Despite fronting some seriously successful films like The Martian, The Bourne Identity, and Ocean’s Eleven, his sense for what roles will land him the big bucks isn’t any sharper. 

“Nobody knows what movie is going to be a hit—you just don’t know,” he admitted in a recent interview with CNN.

Although there’s no crystal ball to predict success, Damon said that there is some strategy behind his career moves. 

“To me, my calculus has always been about the director,” the Oscar winner shared. “And you know, I’ll even go to work with a great director with no script.” 

But his instincts haven’t always been right and one career move in 2009 cost the actor literally millions of dollars.

Matt Damon turned down Avatar

Although Damon is one of Hollywood’s highest-grossing stars of all time, as per Forbes, he could have been $250 million richer if he hadn’t turned down the chance to lead Avatar.  

Not only did James Cameron offer him the starring role, but 10% of the film’s box office was also on the table. Since the movie made over $2.7 billion at the worldwide box office, Damon could have earned upwards of a quarter of a million dollars.

“I’m sure it’s the most money an actor ever turned down,” Damon recalled with a hint of regret. 

Cameron subsequently cast the actor Sam Worthington as Jake Sully, who has appeared in a string of Avatar sequels that will continue to hit the box office for the next decade. 

Despite missing out on a sizable chunk of the film’s profits and the opportunity to be part of a groundbreaking 3D movie, for Damon, it’s more important to stick to your word than risk damaging your reputation by breaking a contract for an exciting new offer.

“I had a contract,” he said. “I was in the middle of shooting the Bourne movie, and I would have to leave the movie early and leave them in the lurch a little bit.”

All’s well that ends well

Just like anyone who’s ever had a career mishap, Damon has clearly been mulling over the scenario for years, having previously touched on the topic with GQ in 2019 and even blasting the move as “the dumbest thing an actor ever did in the history of acting” in Entertainment Tonight.

But his friend, the actor John Krasinski offered him a reality check: “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,” he joked. 

Even Cameron has chimed in to tell Damon to “get over it”. In a BBC Radio 1 interview, he said: “He’s beating himself up over this. And I really think you know, Matt, you’re kind of like one of the biggest movie stars in the world, get over it.”

Plus, Damon’s professionalism since turning down the role has impressed the Avatar director so much that he wants to include Damon in the franchise. “We have to do it so that the world is in equilibrium again,” Cameron added. “But he doesn’t get 10%. F-ck that.”

So, although you can’t strategize for success, you also needn’t stress too much about making the wrong move. As Cameron pointed out, Damon remains one of the world’s top actors with a net worth of around $55 million, proving that in the end, one career mishap doesn’t define a career.