Ocean's Eleven
Eleven thieves, three casinos, $160 million in one underground vault. Steven Soderbergh's 2001 remake of the Rat Pack classic put George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, and Julia Roberts in the coolest movie of the decade — a heist so smooth it made crime look like a hangout.
Ocean's Eleven was Steven Soderbergh's remake of the 1960 Rat Pack film, from a screenplay by Ted Griffin, and it turned casino robbery into pure charisma: Danny Ocean (George Clooney), fresh out of a New Jersey prison, assembles a crew with partner Rusty Ryan (Brad Pitt) to empty the shared vault of the Bellagio, the Mirage, and the MGM Grand — over $160 million, all owned by the ruthless Terry Benedict (Andy García), who happens to be dating Danny's ex-wife Tess (Julia Roberts). The ensemble ran deep: Matt Damon as pickpocket Linus, Bernie Mac, Carl Reiner, Elliott Gould, and Don Cheadle as explosives man Basher — uncredited at his own request after a behind-the-scenes dispute.
The cast nearly looked very different. Mark Wahlberg was originally cast as Linus but left for Planet of the Apes; Johnny Depp was considered for the same role; Luke and Owen Wilson had to pass on the Malloy twins for The Royal Tenenbaums; and Bruce Willis later said he regretted turning down Terry Benedict. Producer Jerry Weintraub's friendship with Bellagio owner Kirk Kerkorian got the production inside the real casino — the cast shot there in the spring of 2001 and stayed at the hotel between takes.
Warner Bros. released the film on December 7, 2001, and it became a monster: $450.7 million worldwide on an $85 million budget, the fifth-highest-grossing film of the year. Entertainment Weekly later put the vault heist on its best-of-the-decade list, calling it "the most winning robbery sequence of the decade," and in 2021 Writers Guild members voted the screenplay one of the 101 greatest of the 21st century. Soderbergh directed Ocean's Twelve (2004) and Ocean's Thirteen (2007), and the all-female spin-off Ocean's 8 followed in 2018 — but nothing ever out-cooled the original job.
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