Steven Soderbergh Doesn’t Want to Direct ‘Ocean’s 14’

When George Clooney confirmed that there was a script for “Ocean’s 14,” speculation rose as to whether Steven Soderbergh would want to direct the fourth film of the franchise.

It turns out, he has absolutely no interest in coming back for more heists. The Playlist’s Rodrigo Perez has sources telling him that Soderbergh will most likely not be coming back to direct Clooney, Pitt and company.

Apparently, Soderbergh doesn’t want to do it out of respect for Bernie Mac’s passing. It doesn’t help that another cast member, Carl Reiner, also passed away recently. This aligns well with what Soderbergh had said back in 2008:

“With Bernie Mac being gone, I don’t think any of us would want to return to that,” Soderbergh had stated, the same year Mac passed away. “I was done [anyway],” Soderbergh confessed at the time, noting his chance to experiment in mainstream filmmaking. “I got to play on those movies visually in a way that I don’t normally.”

Soderbergh’s doing his own thing these days, continuously experimenting with genres and filmmaking techniques. His latest one is a psychological horror film (“Presence”) that’s set to premiere at this coming January’s Sundance Film Festival.

So, who will want to direct instead of Soderbergh? Surely, Clooney has thought about it. As you might have noticed with the last few films he’s helmed, Clooney ain’t Soderbergh, then again he used to direct good movies, “Good Night and Good Luck,” “Confessions of A Dangerous Mind,” and “The Ides of March” spring to mind.

According to Perez, Clooney actually wrote the ‘Oceans 14’ script with producing partner Grant Heslov. So, Clooney seems to be the brains of the operation to revive this franchise. However, I would bet he’d want to give directing reigns to another filmmaker while he works out the on-screen charms with Pitt, Damon and Roberts.