George Clooney Confirms Budget For ‘Ocean’s Fourteen’ Has Been Approved, Production To Begin Next Year With Returning Cast Members

George Clooney has stated that a budget for Ocean’s Fourteen has been finalized and that production is likely to begin next year with several of the original actors returning, according to Variety. A remake of the 1960 heist film starring Frank Sinatra and the Rat Pack, Ocean’s Eleven was directed by Steven Soderbergh and featured an all-star cast that included Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, and Julia Roberts. Released on December 7th, 2001, it was critical and box office success, earning an 83% Certified Fresh Rating on Rotten Tomatoes and grossing over $450 million worldwide, leading to the release of two sequels and a spin-off, Ocean’s Eight, starring Sandra Bullock and Cate Blanchett.

Now Clooney has confirmed that a new entry has been given the greenlight, with the scheduling currently being nailed down:

We just got the budget approved at Warner Bros., and we’re trying to set up. It’s just scheduling, so it’s just setting a start date for us … probably start in about nine or 10 months, shooting.

Clooney also discussed returning cast members and working with them again:

Brad [Pitt], Matt [Damon], and Don [Cheadle], and Julia [Roberts]. I had dinner last night with Julia. They’re all still really dear friends, so the chance to work together will be fun.

A fourth outing for the titular thief and his crew has been in the works for several years, with a script written in 2023. Clooney praised the potential story, comparing it to the 1979 crime film Going in Style, about aging crooks, starring George Burns, Art Carney, and Lee Strasberg, which was remade in 2017 with Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, and Alan Arkin.

A director for Ocean’s Fourteen has yet to be confirmed, with Conclave filmmaker Edward Berger originally being approached before stepping away earlier this year. Deadpool 2 director David Leitch had also been circling the project at one point, but no further updates have been given about his involvement.

In the meantime, a prequel written by Carrie Solomon, and starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling as Danny Ocean’s parents in 1960s Europe, is also in development.