The Steven Soderbergh-directed Ocean's franchise is known for its epic heist plots, and the best idea for Ocean's 14 actually happened during the promotion for Ocean's 12. While Ocean's 11 is considered the best in the series, the following two movies were still hugely entertaining, and Ocean's 13 still turned a massive profit for Warner Bros. Any other successful sequel would immediately get another sequel greenlit, but Ocean's 14 never happened. The series is the crown jewel of slick heist movies with all-star casts, and no other franchise has been able to fill that Ocean's shaped hole in the cinema landscape, but Warner Bros. has definitely tried.
The studio has been trying to wring success out of the series ever since Ocean's 13's release but hasn't had any luck. The series had an all-female reboot in 2018, and while Ocean's 8 was entertaining enough and had the same tone as the Soderbergh movies, it couldn't capture the magic of the 2000s trilogy. And now, a Margot Robbie-starring Ocean's 11 is currently in development. However, no idea is better than a proper sequel to Ocean's 13, and if the studio was struggling with a story, the narrative is hidden in plain sight, as a real-life conspiracy involving the cast in 2004 is perfect Ocean's movie material.
What Happened At The 2004 Monaco Grand Prix?
To promote Ocean's 12, Matt Damon, George Clooney, and Brad Pitt traveled to Monaco for the 2004 Grand Prix. And while showing up and doing interviews would suffice, to promote the movie even further, two $250,000 diamonds were placed into the bodies of the two Jaguar F1 cars (via BBC). And they weren't just put on any part of the car but the very front of the nose. As F1 races often involve crashes, it was far from the most logical way to market a movie, especially as the Jaguar team was terrible at the time and Monaco is by far the tightest track in the season.
Jaguar driver Christian Klein crashed his car in the very first lap of the 2004 race with the car's nose completely disappearing into a wall. When the car was lifted out, the $250,000 diamond had vanished. This led to a lot of speculation about what happened, as a random spectator could have found it, but it could also have been an inside job. The fact that Klein didn't even try to turn the vehicle and was driving so slowly hints that he might have been involved. It was also on a corner that few spectators could see, and nobody searched for the diamond until two hours after the crash.
But the whole thing could have been one big stunt to promote the movie, and attaching a $250,000 diamond to the car wasn't ridiculous but a genius marketing move that really did have F1 fans talking about Ocean's 12 that weekend. This stunt came at a time when the Jaguar team was struggling financially (the team doesn't even exist anymore), so it could have agreed to a marketing deal that'd sabotage its chance at getting points if the deal was good enough. However, if the F.I.A. knew Warner Bros. and Jaguar's plan, it would have led to an unimaginably huge fine for Jaguar that would have bankrupted the team.
This Story Could Be Used For Ocean’s 14
Given that the Ocean's series expanded into other kinds of heists outside of casinos with Ocean's 12 and Ocean's 8, a Grand Prix-oriented heist movie would fit perfectly into the franchise. It has a huge scale, as F1 is a massive-televised event with millions of viewers, and combining the cool heist genre with high-octane racing would surely make for a blockbuster event, especially if Damon, Pitt, and Clooney returned. Given how Warner Bros. has struggled to develop more Ocean's movies, this overlooked event would make a great legacy sequel.
But what makes the idea even more perfect is how meta the Ocean's franchise already is. Ocean's 12 saw Tess (Julia Roberts) pretend to be the very actor who plays her when they run into Bruce Willis, who almost foils the gang's plan. And in Ocean's 13, Danny (Clooney) explains that there's a code of honor between people who shook Frank Sinatra's hand, and Sinatra is the very actor who played Danny Ocean in the original 1960 Ocean's 11. The fact that the Ocean's actors were connected to the strange event could be cleverly written into the fourquel's story.
Why Ocean’s 14 Is Unlikely
Despite the perfect plot for Ocean's 14, it's extremely unlikely that a fourquel with any kind of narrative will see the light of day. The project is already unlikely due to how much time has ed since Ocean's 13, but Pitt all but confirmed that Ocean's 14 is not happening. When asked what his life goals were, Pitt responded, "Be happy, stay healthy, and not get into a financial situation where I have to do Ocean's 14." While it isn't clear why Pitt is uninterested in another sequel, part of the franchise's appeal is the star power, and if the stars aren't returning, Ocean's 14 doesn't stand a chance.
