James Cameron blasts Matt Damon's viral claim he was offered $290 million Avatar payday in scathing chat

James Cameron has blasted Matt Damon's viral claims that he turned down a lead role in Avatar - and subsequently missed out on a $290 million payday. 

The 71-year-old filmmaker - who is preparing for the release of the anticipated third installment in the franchise - offered clarification during an interview with The Hollywood Reporter published on Thursday. 

Damon previously shared that he chose to not take on the role of Jake Sully - which went on to be played by Sam Worthington.

The Martian actor has also claimed that Cameron proposed to give him '10 percent' of the film's profits. The 2009 epic sci-fi movie raked in $2.9 billion in the box office, with Damon allegedly losing out on a paycheck worth hundreds of millions. 

'He was never offered the part,' the director told the outlet. 'I can't remember if I sent him the script or not. I don't think I did?' 

Cameron recalled a phone conversation with Damon where he expressed interest in Avatar, but was devoted to doing a Jason Bourne film which caused a 'conflict' in terms of scheduling. 

'But he was never offered. There was never a deal. We never talked about the character. We never got to that level. It was simply an availability issue,' the Oscar-winning director said. 

'Now what he's done is he's extrapolated "I get 10 percent of the gross on all my films."'

Cameron added, 'And if, in his mind, that's what it would've taken for him to do Avatar, then it wouldn't have happened. Trust me on that.'

The filmmaker then expressed that Damon is 'off the hook and doesn't have to beat himself up anymore' while humorously quipping, 'Matt, it's okay, buddy! You didn't miss anything.' 

Despite disputing the actor's viral claims, Cameron shared his own interest in collaborating with the Good Will Hunting star in the future. 

He also shared he respected Damon for personally reaching out to him in regards to turning down Avatar due to scheduling issues. 

'So all respect to Matt. I'd love to work with him someday,' Cameron said before further emphasizing, 'But that never happened. It was a conflation of different things that were happening.' 

Daily Mail has reached out to Damon's reps for comment, but did not immediately hear back. 

Avatar was released in theaters in 2009 and starred Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Stephen Lang, Michelle Rodriguez and Sigourney Weaver. 

The budget for the sci-fi epic has estimated to have been around $237 million - and was a box office success upon its release in theaters, garnering $2.9 billion globally.

Avatar also became the highest-grossing movie of all time - with the sequel Avatar: The Way Of Water premiering in 2022. 

Back in 2019, Damon said that it was one of his 'bigger regrets' in life to not star in Cameron's film. 

'Jim Cameron offered me Avatar. And when he offered it to me, he goes, "Now, listen. I don't need anybody. I don't need a name for this, a named actor,"' the actor told British GQ. 

'"If you don't take this, I'm gonna find an unknown actor and give it to him, because the movie doesn't really need you. But if you take the part, I'll give you 10 percent of [the movie's takings],"' Damon further claimed Cameron had told him. 

Damon also expressed regret over possibly not having the opportunity to ever work with Cameron. 

'He works so infrequently, but his movies, you know all of them. So it feels like he's made more than he has.' 

The actor added, 'I realized in having to say no that I was probably passing on the chance to ever work with him. So that sucked and that's still brutal. But my kids are all eating. I'm doing OK.' 

And then in 2023, Damon once again discussed the topic while talking to Entertainment Tonight. 

He had also been joined by Saldana at the time who told him, 'I don't think your career suffered because of it, trust me.' 

Damon jokingly replied, 'Do you know what kind of movie that would've been if I would had been in it?'

The actor later expressed, 'I've probably done, like, 50 movies. I've never been in a movie that made $1 billion.' 

Damon has starred in a number of films throughout his successful career thus far, such as Good Will Hunting (1997) which also earned both him and pal Ben Affleck an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. 

He has also appeared in the Jason Bourne franchise - which has notably raked in around $1.6 billion in the box office among five films.

In 2015, Damon took on a leading role in The Martian, which garnered him an Oscar nod and Golden Globe win for Best Actor. 

Other movies he has starred in over the years include Saving Private Ryan (1998), True Grit (2010), Ford v Ferrari (2019) and Oppenheimer (2023). Damon has also been cast in Christopher Nolan's upcoming star-studded film The Odyssey. 

Avatar: Fire And Ash - which had a budget of over $400 million - is set to hit theaters later this week on December 19 and was co-written and directed by Cameron. 

Worthington, Saldana, Weaver and Lang have reprised their roles alongside other cast members such as Kate Winslet, Oona Chaplin and Cliff Curtis. 

Two additional sequels are set to follow Fire And Ash to be released in 2029 and later in 2031 respectively.