“Ocean’s” Crew Ready for Sequel
Tuesday January 14 5:35 PM ET
Crime apparently does pay.
Following the blockbuster success of their 2001 Las Vegas heist caper Ocean’s Eleven, director Steven Soderbergh and star George Clooney are planning to reunite the gang for another job, according to Daily Variety.
The two pals and producing partners have been given the green light from Warner Bros to develop Ocean’s Twelve with an eye toward bringing back many of the high-caliber stars that pilfered in the original, including Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts ( news), Matt Damon ( news), Bernie Mac ( news) and Don Cheadle ( news), along with new cast members.
Based on the 1960 Rat Pack romp, Ocean’s Eleven figured to be a one-off flick, not a franchise. Funny how a $183 million domestic gross can change minds.
Warners has reportedly tapped screenwriter George Nolfi to redraft his screenplay Honor Among Thieves to serve as the basis for the sequel. The studio originally purchased the script two years ago as a potential directing vehicle for John Woo ( news), but the project languished in development hell.
Hollywood has a history of searching their vaults for the right material upon which to build a franchise. For instance, 20th Century Fox rescued a previously unproduced script entitled Simon Says from limbo and refashioned it into 1995’s Die Hard with a Vengeance.
Ocean’s Twelve would mark the fourth time Soderbergh has directed Clooney, having done so first with 1998’s bank robber-on-the-lam flick Out of Sight, followed three years later by Ocean’s Eleven and last November’s sci-fi ghost story-romance Solaris, a remake of the 1972 Andrei Tarkofsky classic and their only box-office bomb to date. (Solaris got more press for the former ER hunk’s bare butt than any cinematic merits.)
The partners also recently coproduced Clooney’s directorial debut, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, which opens wide this weekend and has received favorable reviews.
If all goes according to schedule, cameras should start rolling on Ocean’s Twelve in March 2004 in time for a holiday release later that year.