Ocean’s Eleven is widely regarded as one of Steven Soderbergh’s best movies, but for some reason, the franchise hasn’t gotten off the ground in recent years. Following a pretty successful stretch in the ‘00s, the Ocean’s series came to a brief halt before continuing with Ocean’s Eight in 2018.

The latter was a soft reboot/sequel of the Soderbergh trilogy, with Sandra Bullock cast as George Clooney’s sister to provide some connection to the previous installments. The film received mixed-to-positive reviews but had a strong box office performance, earning $297 million worldwide off a $70 million budget.

It’s understandable then that Warner Bros. has spent time developing multiple new Ocean’s movies since then. However, we’re now past the seven-year mark since the franchise had a new film, as these movies have been placed on pause several times for multiple different reasons.

While there has been some motion regarding a potential Ocean’s Eleven prequel recently, the franchise has been disappointingly stagnant recently. Now is the ideal time for Ocean’s to make a long-awaited return.

Ocean’s Franchise Future Has Been Rocky In Recent Years

Despite Ocean’s Eight performing like a movie that could revitalize the franchise in various ways, Warner Bros. has not prioritized an extension of that story. It was never given a sequel despite its impressive box office performance, suggesting Warner Bros. wants to push the property in a different direction.

Ocean’s Eight proved that while it’s still possible to create a great heist movie without Brad Pitt, George Clooney, and Matt Damon’s iconic characters, they’re still going to be sorely missed. That’s a big reason why development on Ocean’s Fourteen has finally started to gain traction with Clooney and Pitt’s returns confirmed.

Yet, Ocean’s 14 will happen without Steven Soderbergh. He’s announced he won’t be involved, leaving Warner Bros. to replace him with The Fall Guy director David Leitch, after Conclave‘s Edward Berger was reportedly in talks previously. It’s been six months since Leitch’s involvement was reported, and yet there’s been no movement since.

Given how busy and popular these actors have become over the past few decades, it’s clearly become somewhat of an issue to find the time for everyone to come together for another Ocean’s sequel.

Thankfully, Warner Bros is also moving forward with the Ocean’s Eleven prequel that’s been discussed for several years now. The project starring Ryan Gosling and Margot Robbie as Danny Ocean’s parents was first revealed to be in the works in May 2022.

However, even this project has struggled to get off the ground. Filmmaker Jay Roach was originally attached to direct, and production was slated to begin in 2023 prior to Gosling and Robbie’s publicity tour for Barbie. That did not happen due to the stars’ busy schedules, leaving the film in uncertain waters for two years.

The Ocean’s Eleven prequel has now finally found some new life again with Twisters director Lee Isaac Chung taking over for Roach. Yet, given all the problems that the franchise has had in recent years actually getting a movie made, whether this iteration of the film makes it to the end remains to be seen.

Ocean’s Struggles Have Kept A Great Franchise At Bay For Too Long

Ultimately, it shouldn’t be this difficult to get another Ocean’s movie off the ground. It’s such a beloved franchise that consistently runs good figures at the box office, but there’s something about the series that’s kept it from truly taking off in recent years. Whether this is simply due to behind-the-scenes conflicts or whether it’s indicative of a general lack of interest in original heist movies is unclear.

Even following the mᴀssive success of Soderbergh’s original Ocean’s trilogy, it still took thirteen years for the Ocean’s Eight spinoff to get off the ground. It seems like such a reliable formula: get an impressive cast together, come up with a creative heist idea, and find the right director to bring the story to life – but something keeps standing in the way.

While it’s evidently more complicated than that, the general point remains the same. Plenty of other franchises have managed to pump out sequels quicker than fans can even ask for them, so it seems unusual that Ocean’s, an otherwise popular and acclaimed series, can’t seem to get any more sequels off the ground. There’s no obvious reason for the franchise to be stalling this dramatically.

Perhaps there’s an element of apprehension about not living up to the greatness of the original trilogy, but this wasn’t the case with Ocean’s Eight. That sequel did a great job of blending the old with the new, introducing a whole new cast while maintaining the fast-paced storytelling and slick filmmaking of Soderbergh’s original. Ocean’s Eleven will always be the blueprint, but there’s plenty of room for innovation.