"I'm chasing something else."
Despite George Clooney’s enthusiasm for continuing the Ocean’s heist series, director Steven Soderbergh has rejected the opportunity to return for its fourth installment. In an interview with Variety, Soderbergh firmly stated that, for him, the series ended after the third installment in 2007.
“After we made the third movie, I felt like the series was very much concluded for me,” Soderbergh said. “When the studio approached me to see if I’d be involved in continuing the franchise, I told them no, because it just doesn’t feel like a move forward for me. I’m chasing something else.”
But in an interview with Uproxx to promote The Boys in the Boat, Ocean’s star George Clooney revealed that a promising script for a fourth Ocean’s movie is ready. The potential sequel, reportedly drawing inspiration from the 1979 heist dramedy Going in Style, aims to inject new life into the heist franchise, featuring retirees who decide to commit a robbery to bring enjoyment back into their lives. “We have a really good script for another Ocean’s now, so we may end up doing another one,” Clooney said, careful not to label it as Ocean’s 14.
Soderbergh tapping out on the franchise comes more than a decade and a half after he directed Ocean’s Thirteen, which was released in 2007. While Clooney and Soderbergh had discussed revisiting the Ocean’s world, the passing of ensemble cast member Bernie Mac led to a mutual decision to, at the time, not pursue it further.
Soderbergh’s recent focus on a variety of projects, such as concluding the Magic Mike trilogy and his upcoming supernatural horror film Presence, underlines his commitment to exploring new creative territories. Presence, starring Lucy Liu and Julia Fox, is due to premiere at Sundance on January 19.