The Success of the Ocean’s movies
Ocean’s Eleven was sheer Hollywood brilliance at its best. The heist movie became something of a tribute to Las Vegas, spawning a trilogy of movies that mixed comedy, action and huge plot twists that made the movies both successful and well-liked by critics. Ocean’s 13 was the final movie to feature the ensemble cast that included George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Andy Garcia and eventually Al Pacino, with director Steven Soderbergh calling it a day on the Ocean’s series with the fear of the series becoming stale or repetitive.
The figures behind the films
Ocean’s Thirteen, the third film in the series, made an impressive $311,744,465 in the world wide box office. However, the success of the first film in the franchise wasn’t replicated with Ocean’s Eleven raking in $450,728,529. The drop in earnings between the films are reflected by George Clooney’s film salary. For the first installment of the series he was given a staggering $20,000,000, 6 years later for Ocean’s Thirteen he got $15,000,000. His willingness to take a pay cut suggests he was keen to finish what he started and there’s a lot of fans out there that are grateful for that. Ocean’s Twelve, the second film in the series was given the highest production budget, the $110,000,000 that was provided was no doubt due to how well received Ocean’s Eleven was. Both Ocean’s Eleven and Ocean’s Thirteen had a production budget of $85,000,000.
The next installment
Almost ten years later, the rumour mill has been turning and it has now been announced that there is another Ocean’s movie in the pipeline. Little is known about the film, but there will be all-female cast and not all of the original stars will return to the franchise. Although there have been some good reboots in recent years, directors need to tread carefully when it comes to messing with something that was great in the first place, a lesson learned in the Ghostbusters reboot and the latest movie in the Jurassic Park series.
Ocean’s 8, the title of the upcoming reboot, which will be released next year, certainly has a star studded cast with Sandra Bullock as the sister of Danny Ocean, Cate Blanchett, Helena Bonham Carter, Rihanna, Anne Hathaway and Damian Lewis, as well as a huge cameo list. Matt Damon and Carl Reiner will make appearances as both Linus Caldwell and Saul Bloom respectively, but Steven Soderbergh isn’t in the director’s chair this time, taking a producer’s role alongside George Clooney and leaving the hard work to The Hunger Games and Seabiscuit director Gary Ross.
The casino theme and its popularity
The casino movie is certainly a genre that sells movie tickets, with Las Vegas in particular still possessing that magic aura that keeps people interested in casino gambling. Although the Ocean’s movies were technically heist films, they were heavily centred on gambling and casinos, especially the first and third films and have certainly influenced the genre moving forward. It is now often included alongside movies like Rain Man, the Hangover trilogy, 21, Casino and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.
The heist in Ocean’s Eleven is the centrepiece of the movie and offers plenty of excitement as the gang come close to failing, pull the wool over everyone’s eyes and use some cheeky and high tech tactics to get away with stealing the money. The feeling of beating a casino is pure exhilaration and one that can be experienced online – legally! The live casino feature brings the action straight to people’s homes. This experience brings living, breathing croupiers straight to players’ smart devices, replicating the physical casino experience. The renowned 888casino website recently launched the “Live Elite Lounge” a revolutionary environment, you might want to try it first hand at 888 live casino. This was achieved through dropping the boring, software driven AI that takes the human element out of casino gaming, this means that they have created a unique experience. There is no doubt that the success of the Ocean’s movies contributed towards the growth in live casino due to gaming sites realizing just how popular the genre is. Fingers crossed the next Ocean’s film can emulate the success of its predecessors and cause the casino industry to grow further.
The magic of the original trilogy won’t be forgotten anytime soon as the films are renowned as classics, the fast pace and brilliant twists of the first movie ensured this, only time will tell if this can be replicated in Ocean’s 8 and it doesn’t become another unwanted reboot cash in.
Final Thoughts
- Ocean’s Eleven is regarded by many as one of the best casino themed films ever made.
- The star studded cast included George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Andy Garcia and Al Pacino.
- There is another Ocean’s film that will be released soon.
- The success of the movies increased the overall popularity of both online casinos and land-based casinos.
- Online casinos now offer a brilliant live experience that is similar to that offered by land-based casino.
- In total the Ocean’s trilogy made $1,125,462,070 at the Box Office worldwide.