During the early days of his career, Matt Damon was largely seen as an actor suitable for boyish roles, and the success of Good Will Hunting (1997) only intensified this perception. For his portrayal of mathematics genius Will Hunting, Damon also bagged an Academy Award nomination.
However, despite impressing critics with his acting prowess, Damon had to wait until 2002 for a high-profile action role to flex his physical prowess, and in particular his martial arts skills. He led the action thriller The Bourne Identity, wherein he portrays Jason Bourne, a highly trained U.S. spy.
The movie proved to be a box office success with a worldwide collection of $214 million. Not only did it establish Damon as an action hero by kickstarting Bourne franchise, which has so far seen five movies, but also ended up inspiring Christian Bale’s The Big Short in a very interesting manner.
How Matt Damon’s Bourne Franchise Inspired Christian Bale’s $133M Movie
On the surface, comparing Christian Bale‘s The Big Short, a financial drama centered around the messy state of the United States mortgage market, to Matt Damon‘s Bourne franchise, which is a spy fiction thriller, might seem a bit puzzling.
Apart from both Bale (Michael Burry) and Damon (Jason Bourne) playing very intelligent and adaptive characters, there isn’t any straightforward similarity between the two movies. However, the comparisons start to make sense once eagle-eyed fans start analyzing the way both films are shot.
The Big Short’s director, Adam McKay was adamant from the start that he didn’t want to present Wall Street in a myopic and stereotypical way that usually just portrays the world being cold and ominous. Instead, he wanted his movie to be more real.
One way to achieve that feel was touching on more intimate details than just showing a bunch of individuals on phones, and this is where Bourne franchise comes in. McKay explained during an interview with IndieWire:
“I wanted to go inside of it. When you start thinking like that you start thinking of one DP: Barry Ackroyd. I rewatched all of the ‘Bourne‘ films and I realized, this is the way it has to be done.”
Whatever McKay was trying to do translated well onto the big screen, and The Big Short, unlike the country’s mortgage market in the late 2000s, proved to be both a critical and commercial success. Against a $50 million budget, its gross collection of $133 million stood out well.
How Matt Damon’s Bourne Franchise Led to Him Rejecting Avatar
Bourne franchise – which has grossed over $1.5 billion – is undoubtedly very special for Damon as it made him (and his character) stand out from many famous contemporary action series due to its emphasis on incorporating real stunt work in favor of CGIs.
However, Damon’s commitment to his character Jason Bourne and his missions ended up costing him the opportunity to star in Avatar. James Cameron wanted the talented actor in his movie, and he was also keen to work under the tutelage of the Titanic director, but he rejected the approach. Explaining his decision, the 52-year-old told Chris Wallace (via Variety):
“I had a contract. I was in the middle of shooting the ‘Bourne’ movie and I knew that we were going to need work at the end and I had to get it all the way to the finish line and I would have to leave the movie kind of early and leave them in the lurch a little bit and I didn’t want to do that.”
Damon’s decision to not leave his friends in the lurch also ended up costing him around $250 million, as the offer to feature in Avatar included him receiving 10% of the box office back end. The epic movie went on to earn a record $2.9 billion.
