Jake Gyllenhaal & Matt Damon turned down "Avatar"

Jake Gyllenhaal in "People" magazine photoshoot.

"In another universe, Jason Bourne or the Prince of Persia might have been running around the jungles of Pandora.

Jake Gyllenhaal in "Flaunt" magazine photoshoot.Jake Gyllenhaal in "Total Film" magazine photoshoot.Sam Worthington was chosen to play Jake Sully in "Avatar".

"Avatar" director James Cameron spoke to both Matt Damon and Jake Gyllenhaal about playing the role of Jake Sully in the sci-fi epic that now stands as the biggest moneymaker in the history of Hollywood with $2.5 billion in worldwide box office.

Both stars, perhaps leery of a blue-in-the-face gig, declined, and the filmmaker instead went with his first choice -- unknown Aussie actor Sam Worthington, who was living in his car before he got the job. Cameron said he offered the role to the big-name stars only to placate the studio chiefs at Fox, who wanted a bankable star to offset some of the risks of the expensive project.
"I don’t think they ever had a problem with the CG, “ Cameron said. “Honestly, did I go out and try to woo them? No. I had my heart set on Sam. Maybe they sensed my lack of 100% commitment from me. Maybe it was the subject matter. This was a big 'Star Wars'-type movie. They’re both serious actors.”
Jake Gyllenhaal as Prince Dastan in "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time" (2010).Sam Worthington as Perseus in "Clash of the Titans" (2010).

Next up for those serious actors: Gyllenhaal stars in "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time", based on the video game, which hits theaters in May, while Damon will be seen in "Green Zone" and is among the stars working on next year's "Happy Feet 2 in 3D." Source: latimesblogs.latimes.com

"While Damon just played South African rugby star Francois Pienaar in Invictus, he has never played a real figure like Kennedy. The film will trace RFK's transformation from the younger brother in the shadow brother President John F Kennedy to a strong national leader in his own right before he was gunned down in 1968. His assassination at the Ambassador Hotel was the backdrop for Emilio Estevez’s Bobby, and Chris Columbus and his 1492 partners are developing The Last Campaign on RFK's presidential run. Emilio Estevez and Demi Moore in "Bobby" (2006).

Knight, the Eastern Promises writer, just got hired by Columbia Pictures to adapt the Dan Brown novel The Lost Symbol. That came thanks to his work for the studio on Pawn Sacrifice, a drama about Bobby Fischer's unlikely victory over Russian chess champ Boris Spassky. Tobey Maguire as Sam Cahill in "Brothers" (2009).

Tobey Maguire is producing and eyeing the Fischer role. Cooper, Ross, and Thomas were already collaborating on another U.S. history project, the Jack Greenberg-Thurgood Marshall story Crusaders, which they’ve set at HBO with Danny Strong writing the script". Source: www.deadline.com