Meet actor who lost Rs 1400 crore in 10 minutes, college dropout who was once highest paid star, now does side roles

The nature of filmmaking and the workloads and calendars of actors often mean that most top stars are unable to say yes to every film they want to. Anything from remuneration to scheduling can affect this decision. But often times, a star will say no to a film for reasons unknown, only to regret it later. This one star took only ten minutes to say no to the biggest opportunity of his life, losing Rs 1400 crore in the process.

The actor who lost Rs 1400 crore in 10 minutes

In 2007, James Cameron, the director then best known for Titanic and The Terminator, was working on an ambitious film called Avatar. While casting for the film’s lead role, he approached Matt Damon. The actor recently revealed this on a talk show. In a clip from the ineraction that has now gone viral on social media, the actor can be seen telling the audience, “I was offered a little movie called Avatar. I turned down. Jim Cameron called me and he offered me 10% of Avatar.” The actor then pauses to laugh as the host and audience laugh with him. “You will never meet an actor who turned down more money than me.”

Avatar eventually went on to become the highest-grossing film in history, grossing $2.7 billion in its initial run and $2.9 billion overall. Estimates say that Damon, had he taken the 10% profit offer, would have ended up earning $290 million (Rs 1400 crore in 2009) from the film. In a report, the actor said he took merely 10 minutes to say no to the film. Eventually, Sam Worthington was cast in that role. The Australian actor received 5% of the film’s profit.

Matt Damon today

Matt Damon’s film career

Matt Damon went to Harvard in 1988 after finishing his schooling. But he did not finish his college there and dropped out without receiving his degree in 1992. Damon began his career in 1992 with Geronimo, which bombed at the box office. After small appearances in a few films, Damon – along with friend Ben Affleck – wrote a film called Good Will Hunting. They both starred in the film, which was a critical and commercial success. Over the next decade, Damon worked in several hits like Ocean’s Eleven and the Bourne series, which made him one of the highest paid stars in the world. After continued success in films like The Martian, Damon ventured into supporting roles and cameos in bigger films such as Interstellar and Oppenheimer. The actor has a film called Unstoppable lined up. He is also producing three other films.

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