The Tragic Reason Behind Steven Soderbergh Abandoning Ocean’s 14 as George Clooney Aims to Revive Franchise
The famous Ocean’s trilogy was directed by Steven Soderbergh. It starred George Clooney as ‘Danny Ocean,’ the master thief. The star cast also includes Matt Damon, Brad Pitt, Casey Affleck, and Don Cheadle.
The franchise released it’s first movie, Ocean’s 11 in 2001. It received critical acclaim and became a commercial hit, grossing around $450 million at the box office. It was followed by Ocean’s 12 (2004), and Ocean’s 13(2007), which made box office collections of $362 million and $311 million respectively. While there were talks of a potential Ocean’s 14, the project was abandoned by the director for a tragic reason.
Why did Steven Soderberg abandon Ocean’s 14?
Despite a lot of anticipation surrounding Ocean’s 14, it never happened due to the death of actor Bernie Mac. He was a stand-up comedian, best known for projects like The Original Kings of Comedy, Mr. 3000, The Bernie Mac Show, and Ocean’s Eleven.
In the movie, Bernie Mac played Frank Catton, a former card dealer and con-man. In 2008, Mac suffered a cardiac arrest and was admitted to the ICU. However, he didn’t manage to survive. It looks like, without Mac, director Steven Soderbergh completely abandoned the idea of another Ocean’s film.
That said, it’s certainly a rather tragic reason behind the director, Steven Soderbergh abandoning the film. However, fans shouldn’t lose hope just yet as George Clooney might have something up his sleeves and might revive the franchise.
George Clooney aims to revive the Ocean’s franchise
Despite the idea of a potential Ocean’s 14 being dropped, it looks like George Clooney is looking to bring back the franchise. However, even though the movie will be a part of the franchise, it will most likely not be called Ocean’s 14.
When George Clooney was asked what Ocean’s 14 would be about, he replied by revealing that the name might be different. He said: (Via: Uproxx)
“Well… I don’t want to call it that… I mean, the idea is kind of like ‘Going in Style.'”
Though George Clooney didn’t reveal much about the project, he said that they have a “really good script,” so they might “end up doing another one.”
For those unaware, Going in Style was a 1979 heist comedy starring George Burns, Art Carney, Lee Strasberg, and Charles Hallahan. The movie was later remade by Warner Bros. by the same name in 2017 and was directed by Zach Braff and written by Theodore Melfi. That said, it will be interesting to see if Clooney can actually put the script he has ready to use and work on the Ocean’s next. Till then, fans can certainly keep their fingers crossed.
