David Leitch in Talks to Direct ‘Ocean’s Fourteen’

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(Left) David Leitch in Paris for ‘Bullet Train.’ Credit: Oliver Vigerie/Sony Pictures. (Right) George Clooney and Brad Pit in ‘Ocean’s Eleven’. Photo: Warner Bros. Pictures.

Preview:

David Leitch is in talks to direct ‘Ocean’s Fourteen.’
George Clooney, Brad Pitt and other leads would likely return.
Warner Bros. is backing the movie as always.

Las Vegas casinos, you might want to check your security setup. Because the ‘Ocean’s Eleven’ crew is looking to pay another visit.

At least, that’s the plan for Warner Bros. and George Clooney’s Smokehouse Pictures company, which have been trying for a few years now to put together an ‘Ocean’s Fourteen.’

It would aim to reunite the reunite the crew from the previous outing, which includes Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon and more for a new movie.

Yet while Clooney seems committed to coming back, director Steven Soderbergh is apparently sitting this one out, having handled the previous three main entries.

There were rumours last year that Edward Berger, who made the Oscar-winning ‘All Quiet on the Western Front,’ (and is back in awards contention with ‘Conclave’) was in talks to take it on, but he denied them in an interview with Collider:

“Well, I feel very honored that people think of me to be able to do something like that, and of course, I would love the challenge to do either, but again, it’s rumors that are just people wanting to print some news that just have no basis in fact.”

Now, though Jeff Sneider is reporting that David Leitch, who most recently made ‘The Fall Guy,’ is in early talks to tackle the new movie.

What has happened with the ‘Ocean’s’ franchise so far?

The cast of 2001’s ‘Ocean’s Eleven’. Photo: Warner Bros. Pictures.

The 1960 original saw Frank Sinatra as Danny Ocean, who gathered old World War II colleagues to pull off a heist in Vegas. His crew included Rat Pack pals Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Peter Lawford, Joey Bishop and more.

It’s not exactly considered the greatest movie ever made, so a remake was a smart move.

The updated ‘Ocean’s Eleven’ landed in 2001, with Soderbergh directing from a script by Ted Griffin.

Clooney played Ocean, with his crew including Pitt, Damon, Casey Affleck, Scott Caan, Bernie Mac and more. They staged a sophisticated and elaborate casino heist involving robbing three Las Vegas casinos simultaneously during a popular boxing event.

It was a success for Warner Bros., earning $450 million from an $85 million budget.

Its 2004 sequel, the Europe-set ‘Ocean’s Twelve,’ also directed by Soderbergh (with a script this time by George Nolfi) saw Danny rustle up one more team member so he can pull off three major European heists and help his team pay back debts.

With a bigger budget ($110 million) it wasn’t quite as successful, but still earned $320 million.

The final film in the Soderbergh-directed trilogy, 2007’s ‘Ocean’s Thirteen’ had Brian Koppelman and David Levien on scripting duty and had Danny rounding up the crew for a third heist after casino owner Willy Bank (Al Pacino) double-crosses one of the original eleven, Reuben Tishkoff (Elliott Gould).

With a budget reduced back down to $85 million, it crept close to ‘Twelve’s earnings with $311 worldwide.

In 2018, we got spin-off ‘Ocean’s Eight,’ directed by Gary Ross from a script he wrote with Olivia Milch.

Sandra Bullock took over lead duties as Debbie Ocean, Danny’s younger sister, who is released from prison and gathers her own crew including characters played by Cate Blanchett, Mindy Kaling, Awkwafina, Sarah Paulson, Rhianna, Helena Bonham Carter and Anne Hathaway to pull off a jewel heist at the Met Gala.

The movie was budgeted around the $70 million mark and earned $297 million worldwide.

What has George Clooney said about a new ‘Ocean’s’ movie?

George Clooney in ‘Ocean’s Eleven’. Photo: Warner Bros. Pictures.

Clooney, who is a producer on the ‘Ocean’s franchise in addition to its lead actor, told Uproxx about a development for the future back in 2023:

“We have a really good script for another ‘Ocean’s’ now, so we may end up doing another one. It’s actually a great script. the idea is kind of like ‘Going in Style.’ ”

That’s a nod to Martin Brest’s 1979 heist comedy, which famously starred George Burns, Art Carney, Lee Strasberg and Charles Hallahan as senior citizens who pull off a bank heist.

It was remade in 2017 by Zach Braff with a cast that featured Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine and Alan Arkin. We’re thinking it’s a comic reference to the ‘Ocean’s’ cast aging…

What else has David Leitch been involved with?

David Leitch in Paris for ‘Bullet Train.’ Credit: Oliver Vigerie/Sony Pictures.

Leitch has spun quite the career from his days as a stuntman doubling for Keanu Reeves. After graduating to stunt coordinator and second-unit director, he co-directed ‘John Wick’ with action colleague Chad Stahelski.

He’s since gone on to make the likes of ‘Atomic Blonde,’ ‘Deadpool 2,’ ‘Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw’ and ‘Bullet Train’ (which starred Pitt).

Last year’s ‘The Fall Guy,’ which starred Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt, didn’t succeed at the box office but doesn’t seem to have hurt Leitch’s prospects.

He’s also a producer via his 87North company and has the likes of ‘Love Hurts‘ and ‘Nobody 2’ on the way in that capacity.

Wasn’t there another ‘Ocean’s movie in the works?

‘Barbie’ CinemaCon 2023 Presentation and Press Line, April 25th. Photos By Eric Charbonneau.

Good memory! An ‘Ocean’s’ prequel film that has ‘Barbie’ duo Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling attached to star has been in development for a couple of years now.

With Jay Roach reportedly directing, Carrie Solomon’s script is set in Europe in the 1960s and may see Gosling and Robbie as Danny Ocean’s heist-happy parents.

There has been little movement on that one recently, so we’ll wait and see if it actually comes to fruition.