In 2018, Warner Bros. released a long-awaited follow-up to the famous Steven Soderbergh Ocean’s trilogy, titled Ocean’s 8. The all-female heist comedy led by Oscar-winning stars like Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett, Anne Hathaway, and five others is now dominating the Top 10 chart on Netflix in 7th position, as of September 16, 2025 [FlixPatrol].
The film, marketed and promoted as having an association with the original trilogy, lacked most of the actors from the George Clooney films. Matt Damon came extremely close to being featured in the spin-off alongside co-star Sandra Bullock. However, the cameo was scrapped, and the audience missed out on a chance to meet the fast-fingered, master pickpocket Linus Caldwell.
Why Was Matt Damon’s Ocean’s 8 Cameo Axed?
Matt Damon’s Linus Caldwell and Carl Reiner’s Saul Bloom were both poised to feature in Sandra Bullock’s 2018 spin-off film. In fact, the two actors also had cameos filmed for the purpose. However, none of their scenes made it to the final theatrical cut.
In the height of the #MeToo movement in 2017, Matt Damon faced major public backlash for making comments that were deemed insensitive and denounced for downplaying the seriousness of the issue. There was a petition that called for his removal from the 2018 spin-off.
However, director Gary Ross claimed that other reasons contributed to the axing of Damon’s cameo in Ocean’s 8. He told The Hollywood Reporter:
[Picking the cameos] is an eclectic process of: how does it fit in the story and how is the narrative unfolding? This, more than any movie I’ve done, had a really copious editorial process where you play with stuff; you find stuff. There were a lot of people who were gracious to us that just for editorial and storytelling reasons didn’t make it in and some who did…
Ross diplomatically protected both his film and Damon’s association with it by pinning the blame on story edits. However, two core members of the Ocean’s 11 cast, business mogul Reuben (Elliott Gould) and acrobat Yen (Shaobo Qin), did make it to Bullock’s film. The former appeared in a cameo in the beginning, while the latter lent a key assist during the heist at the end.
Update on Brad Pitt and George Clooney’s Ocean’s 14 Movie
In September 2024, Deadline reported positive updates on Warner Bros.’ next installment of the Ocean’s franchise. Edward Berger, director of All Quiet on the Western Front and Conclave, was being courted to helm the sequel that would bring back the original stars.
Later that month, George Clooney and Brad Pitt claimed that the movie was already in development. During the premiere of Wolfs, Clooney revealed to E! News, “We have a really good script. Everyone’s read it and ready to do it.”
As of January 2025, David Leitch (John Wick, Bullet Train, The Fall Guy) was in talks to direct Ocean’s 14. Having worked closely with Brad Pitt for nearly his whole career, the director is being considered a good fit for the job. [via The Insneider]
In a February 2025 interview with The New York Times, Clooney spilled some details about the plot of Ocean’s 14: “It’s like we’re all too old to do the jobs we used to be able to do.” While that is definitely a realistic take on the issue, it will be interesting to see the effect of time on the characters of Ocean’s 11.
Interestingly, an Ocean’s prequel film set in Europe in the 1960s is also in development at Warner Bros. The movie will reunite the Barbie duo, Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, in the lead roles and will be directed by Jay Roach.
Below is a table of the Steven Soderbergh trilogy and the 2018 spin-off film with their critical ratings and box office takeaways:
Which of the above four movies is your favorite? Let us know in the comments.
All 4 Ocean’s films are available to buy/rent on Amazon Video, Apple TV, and Fandango At Home.