James Cameron’s “Avatar” remains the biggest movie of all time. Even though it had to briefly surrender that title to “Avengers: Endgame,” “Avatar” stands alone with $2.92 billion at the box office to its name. It also birthed a multi-billion-dollar franchise, with “Avatar: The Way of Water” becoming the third-biggest movie ever in 2022 with $2.34 billion. The third entry, “Avatar: Fire and Ash,” hits theaters in December. It’s a franchise that made Sam Worthington’s career and, undoubtedly, made him a wealthy man. That wealth and fame could have easily gone to someone else.
In a recent breakdown of his career for Vanity Fair, Cameron explained that Worthington had some competition for the role of Jake Sully when “Avatar” was being put together at Fox. Three actors were in the running and Cameron favored Worthington. Fox, on the other hand, liked then-up-and-comer Channing Tatum, who was coming off of the “Step-Up” movies. That’s right! “Magic Mike” himself could have been Jake Sully. Here’s what Cameron had to say about it:
“There were three young actors that were really nowhere in their careers at the time. All three of them went on to be movie stars. I had to choose between them, and I did a series of screen tests. First, it was a straight audition. Then I set up real screen tests, on sets. There was a lab set, a jungle set. Zoë [Saldana] came in and tested with everybody, and Sam was the one I kept going back to. The studio disagreed. The Fox guys liked the other guys better. I’ll say, one of them was Channing Tatum. It could’ve been Channing Tatum! (Sam) is the guy I would follow into battle, I would follow him into hell. He spoke in a way that resonated.”
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Avatar could have changed Channing Tatum’s career
Channing Tatum as Duke with his gun out in G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra – Paramount Pictures
Matt Damon famously turned down the lead role in “Avatar.” In his words, “you will never meet an actor who turned down more money.” Damon was a big star at the time and was offered 10% of the profits. Worthington and Tatum, on the other hand, were just starting to break out. Working with Cameron, the man who made “Terminator 2: Judgment Day” and “Titanic,” represented a huge break. It broke Worthington’s way.
Tatum ended up starring in “G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra” in 2009, after turning it down multiple times. He also auditioned to be Marvel’s Thor around that time, with Chris Hemsworth landing the job. But Tatum went on to have a damn fine career, starring in everything from “Magic Mike” to “The Hateful Eight.” Huge hits like “21 Jump Street” and acclaimed dramas like “Foxcatcher.” Tatum even got to finally play Gambit in “Deadpool & Wolverine,” with the actor reprising the role in “Avengers: Doomsday.”
Still, it’s hard not to wonder what Tatum’s career might have looked like if he’d been anchored to “Avatar.” Tatum and Worthington also weren’t the only ones vying for the role. Our future Captain America was also in the mix.
“Chris Evans, and Sam, and Channing Tatum. That was my choice,” Cameron previously said in 2019 to Empire. “They were both great guys. But Sam had a quality of voice and a quality of intensity. Everybody did about the same on all the material through the script, except for the final speech where he stands up and says, ‘This is our land, ride now, go as fast as the wind can carry you.’ That whole thing. I would have followed him into battle.”
“Avatar: Fire and Ash” hits theaters on December 19, 2025.
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