Movies - TV
Matt Damon's Biggest Box Office Bomb Was Supposed To Star Paul Giamatti
By WITNEY SEIBOLD
Alexander Payne's sci-fi film, "Downsizing," stands out as one of the more notorious box office failures, with a $68 million budget but only earning $55 million worldwide.
In the movie, a groundbreaking technology enables the permanent reduction of humans to approximately four inches in height, solving various environmental challenges.
Matt Damon stars as the protagonist, Paul, but perhaps the film might have fared better had Payne been allowed to abide by his original plan to cast Paul Giamatti as the lead.
In an interview about Payne and Giamatti's new film "The Holdovers" with Empire Magazine, Payne confirmed that the role was written with the actor in mind.
However, Paramount — as risk-averse as any studio — preferred the Oscar-winning "big star" Damon over the still-celebrated Giamatti.
Payne explained, "It was hard, eight years ago, to get a huge budget with Paul Giamatti as the lead. That's different now, but at the time it was purely a financial decision."
Fortunately, Giamatti harbored no bitterness towards the studio about being overlooked for Matt Damon, playfully remarking, “He's the go-to guy if you can't get me, by the way.”