Although more than twenty years have passed since the first chapter of the saga of Ocean’s Eleventhe movie of Steven Soderbergh it remains one of the funniest and most star-studded projects in recent Hollywood history. George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Julia Roberts, Don Cheadle and others banded together to pull off a kidnapping masterminded by Danny Ocean, yet that cast could have been even richer. George Clooney recently confirmed that it is Mark Wahlberg That Johnny Depp they had been approached to star in the film.
“Steven had just filmed ‘Erin Brockovich’ and ‘Traffic,’ and was nominated for (an Oscar for) directing both films”he said George Clooney during a discussion with Soderbergh at the TCM Film Festival. “So, people really wanted to work with him (…) Having said that, some people told us no,” added Soderbergh.
“They did it”, he said George Clooney. “Some very famous people told us to fuck off right now. Mark Wahlberg, Johnny Depp. There were others. Now they regret it. I, on the other hand, regret fucking Batman.”
Later, via Variety, Clooney recalled how they convinced the mega star Julia Roberts to sign on to play his character’s ex-wife.“We sent Julia a script and I wrote a note saying, ‘I heard you now make 20 (million dollars) for a film.’” said Clooney. “And we sent her a $20 bill… Her joke made her laugh, and yes, she jumped on board.”
Ocean’s Eleven garnered critical acclaim and grossed $450 million at the worldwide box office. The film spawned a franchise that led to two sequels featuring the original cast, Ocean’s Twelve of 2004 and Ocean’s Thirteen of 2007, as well as a female spin-off with Ocean’s 8 of 2018 with Sandra Bullock And Cate Blanchette.
Warner Bros. is currently developing a reboot of the franchise with Margot Robbie And Ryan Gosling as protagonists. Robbie will produce the film under his LuckyChap banner with Tom Ackerley And Michelle Graham. Gary Ross, Olivia Milch And Josey McNamara of LuckyChap will be the executive producers. Village Roadshow is also attached to the project as an executive producer.