Soderbergh and Clooney on Ocean's 13
Source: Edward Douglas
December 2, 2006
This year, there were a lot of high profile threequels (AKA sequels to sequels) but one of the big ones for next summer is likely to be Ocean's 13, the second sequel to director Steven Soderbergh's 2001 remake of Ocean's 11. He's reunited the entire cast including his long-time leading man George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts, Matt Damon et al for one last fling. At the junket for Soderbergh's next film The Good German, Soderbergh and Clooney talked about what to expect from next summer's threequel.
"'13' happened because we thought we could do it better than '12' and we didn't want to go out getting socked in the chin on one," Clooney admitted when asked why he decided to return to reprise the role of Danny Ocean. "We were both like, 'We both know how to do this.' And we found a really good reason to do it, which is revenge, which I think is just such a good motivator after you've had these guys make a lot of money. What are you going to do? 'Let's make some more money'? This was just about getting somebody who wasn't one of our guys. I always love films like that. That made sense to us and that seemed like a good reason to do it. There doesn't seem to be any other reason to come back. And it's back to '11' in terms of spending more time with the guys."
When asked whether he was taking any risks on the third movie, Soderbergh responded, somewhat facetiously, that they were very risky, though he looked at the third movie a bit more poignantly. "I'm really happy with it, but it was kind of sad near the end of it to go, 'Well, this is the last time I'm going to see these people in a room. I really like them all and they really like each other, and there was a very strong sense that we were really lucky that these movies came about and we were able to do them and this was it. At the end of it, there was a real sense of passage and wondering for me whether I'll ever find another commercial movie to make. But also just those people, I won't be hanging out with those people anymore."
When another person suggested that Ocean's 13 didn't have to be the last one, Soderbergh disagreed, "Yeah, it does."
Clooney wasn't so closed-minded about ever doing another one, saying with his usual charm, "Listen, Rocky 17, who knows? Maybe ten years from now I need a job again, I'll take it, but right now, we don't plan on it."
Ocean's 13 is scheduled to come out on June 8, 2007, but before then, you can catch Clooney in Soderbergh's next film The Good German, out in limited release on December 15.
