Actors have to constantly turn down roles due to scheduling issues and prior committments, but it must hurt just a bit when they turn down a role in one of the top-grossing movies of all time. Matt Damon knows exactly what we're talking about, considering he turned down a role in 'Avatar.'According to WENN, the actor was in talks with director James Cameron to star in the epic 2009 film, but there just wasn't enough time to take on the project between filming 'The Bourne Ultimatum' and 'The Green Zone.'
"I talked to Cameron and I read the script and I knew the movie was gonna be a big hit," Damon said. "I really wanted to do 'Avatar' and work with Jim Cameron and watch him direct and learn a lot."
But in the end, the lack of time won out, he said. "We were finishing 'The Bourne Ultimatum,' and I couldn't leave. It was a scheduling issue."





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And this matters over a year leater because...?
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They need something to fill a 24 hour news cycle.
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That was the right move, Matt. James Cameron was the star of Avatar. Nothing and no one else mattered.
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I don't think Matt will miss any rent payments because of this.
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Avatar was a horrid movie pushed to the top by over the top technology.
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Avatar is Dancing with wolves meets Star Wars, just with over the top CG
I'm a huge Matt Damon fan and I would have loved seeing him in Avatar but that would have caused me to miss him in "The Bourne Ultimatum and The Green Zone." But in Avatar I got the chance to see Sam Worthington after seeing him in Terminator Salvation!
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I am glad that Damon did not lower himself to be in Avatar. I thought it was an over-done yawn movie. I kept waiting for it to end. It was a waste of my time. The only reason I went to the theater to see it was because my granddaughter wanted to see it. She said it was OK (not wonderful or fantastic, just OK). Oh, and I thought the same of Titanic.
This movie was "Dances With Wolves.....blue people version". End of story. How anyone thought this movie was so great, simply amazes me.
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Avatar was one of the worst movies I've ever seen. I still don't understand all the hype. The story itself was basically a rip off of Dances With Wolves, just set on another planet. And, hello.....it was ANIMATED! Sure, they did a new technology...big freaking deal. They animated the characters to look like the actors. Disney has been doing that for years. And, the stuff they were mining was called "unobtainium". How LAME is that? Terrible movie. Just goes to show.....if you drink the cool aid.....
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LIKE IT OR NOT.... HE MADE A GREAT CHOICE BY NOT DOING A BLUE VERSION OF DANCES WITH WOLVES
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Aren't Matt Damon and Mark Wahlberg the same guy?
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Laughing...I'm hoping that question was you trying to be funny...
good for us. matt damon is like kevin costner, same person in every roll. Avatar was better without him.
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I like Matt okay, but I get tired of him getting all the roles in so many movies. Geeze, there are a lot of awesome actors out there.....spread the roles around, please!
I think Matt's done OK without Avatar. Avatar is only a year old and it's already Yesterday's Newspaper. Damon has made some really good movies, including the Bourne series. People will be watching these long after they have forgotten about Avatar
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I can't see Damon playing that role anyway. Cameron was a perfect fit. Damon is better in the so called "real world" roles.
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Don't lose any sleep over it Matt - I don't care how much money it made Avatar SUCKED big time.
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He didn't miss out on anything - except the hype that the media gave it in order for it to make the money - the movie wasn't that good. But they sure made everyone believe it was. Media hype.
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Lets see - Richard Gere turned down Die Hard - Lets see - Richard Gere as McClane - Bruce Willis as McClane. Which works better?
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