Just last night, we posted a story where George Clooney confirmed that Ocean’s 14 was definitely happening. It was based on a red carpet interview Clooney did for his new movie, Jay Kelly, in which he said, “We just got the budget approved at Warner Bros., and we’re trying to set it up. It’s just scheduling—so it’s about setting a start date for us, probably in about nine or ten months, shooting.”
Well, not so fast, George…
According to Deadline, another A-lister, Bradley Cooper, may be joining the franchise—but as part of the long-gestating Ocean’s 11 prequel project. Once rumored to reunite Barbie stars Ryan Gosling and Margot Robbie, it looks like Gosling (who’s filming the latest Star Wars movie) is out, with Cooper—now that he’s wrapped his third film as a director, Is This Thing On—in negotiations to replace him. The premise remains shrouded in mystery but was once said to focus on how Danny Ocean’s (as played by George Clooney in the Ocean’s trilogy) parents met.
While there’s no reason both movies couldn’t go into production, Warner Bros. greenlighting two Ocean’s projects simultaneously seems unlikely. It sounds more like these two potential continuations of the franchise are in competition with each other.
One thing this latest development highlights is how quickly power dynamics can shift in Hollywood. It was once unthinkable that a film starring George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, and Julia Roberts wouldn’t be immediately fast-tracked into production. Each Ocean’s movie made well north of $100 million domestically. Yet star-driven movies are increasingly harder to pull off, with Clooney and Pitt’s last collaboration, Wolfs, being sent direct-to-streaming.
Even so, everyone involved with Ocean’s remains pretty bankable: Clooney is earning raves for Jay Kelly, Brad Pitt just had the biggest hit of his career with F1, Julia Roberts is getting Oscar buzz for After the Hunt, and Damon just starred in The Odyssey for Christopher Nolan.
Which Ocean’s movie do you think actually gets made? Let us know in the comments.
