George Clooney says Johnny Depp and Mark Wahlberg 'regret' turning down 'Ocean's Eleven'
LOSANGELES, CALIFORNIA: George Clooney thinks that Mark Wahlberg and Johnny Depp "regret" turning down the iconic 'Ocean's Eleven'. During a meeting with director Steven Soderbergh at the TCM Classic Film Festival, the 61-year-old actor said that the actors turned down the chance to appear in the 2001 heist comedy movie, and told them to "f*** right off".
George, who played Danny Ocean in the movie, said, "Steven had just done 'Erin Brockovich' and 'Traffic,' and he was nominated for (an Oscar) directing both films. So, people really wanted to work with Steven." However, some people did reject us, Soderbergh chimed in.
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'I regret doing f****** Batman'
He said, "Some people did say no to us." Clooney even made jokes about 'Batman & Robin', which many people think is the worst superhero movie ever made. Clooney said, "They did. Some very famous people told us to f*** right off, Mark Wahlberg and Johnny Depp. There were others. They regret it now. I regret doing f****** Batman," as reported by Deadline.
'The studios were making very big, broad, not very good films'
The 'Ticket to Paradise' actor commended Soderbergh for incorporating elements of 1970s cinema into 'Ocean's Eleven'. George said, "It's also important to understand where we were at the time. The studios were making very big, broad, not very good films at that time." He added, "Steven had this idea of trying to infuse all of this independent film stuff that all of these young filmmakers were learning back into the studio system. It was going to get back to the things that they were doing from like 1964 to 1975." The director discussed how he viewed the movie as an opportunity to merge his indie methods with high-budget Hollywood production, as per reports.
Soderbergh's 'Ocean's Eleven' is a heist comedy. It marked the start of the Ocean trilogy, the first chapter of which was a remake of the same-titled 1960 Rat Pack movie. One can only imagine the box office draw the movie must have attracted given the big names attached to it, including Matt Damon, Julia Roberts, and George Clooney, as reported by IMDB.
Ocean's Eleven amassed staggering box office revenue of $450.7 million. The 2001 Brad Pitt-starring movie earned the fifth-highest box office total of the year. According to Box Office Mojo, the movie had an $85 million budget, meaning the revenue was more than five times what was spent making it, as per reports.
The first sequel, 'Ocean's Twelve', was released in 2004, with the final film, 'Ocean's Thirteen', following in 2007. An all-female spin-off titled 'Ocean's 8' came out in 2018.