``Ocean's Eleven'' All-star movie created by indie genius Steven Soderbergh and Hollywood big name

"Ocean's Eleven" synopsis

Danny Ocean leads a team of skilled but quirky friends and carries out a crazy plan to attack three casinos at the same time. The target is Benedict (Andy Garcia), a casino owner who is dating Danny's ex-wife (Julia Roberts). The cast includes Rusty (Brad Pitt), Linus (Matt Damon), Frank (Bernie Mac), Saul (Carl Reiner), and more. Take it or leave it, the biggest operation in history begins.

Index

• A whole new challenge for Soderbergh and friends
• “All-Star” casting was difficult
• Their biggest rival was “The Royal Tenenbaums”!?
• Clooney goes beyond film industry convention to negotiate lower fees
  
• “The Pope of Las Vegas” Jerry Weintraub
• Collaborative system between independent geniuses and Hollywood system bosses

A whole new challenge for Soderbergh and friends

Ocean's Eleven was both a merry festival and a challenge with great risks. For whom? Not only was it for director Steven Soderbergh, but it was also an attempt by Hollywood stars to come together and break with convention and shake up Hollywood.

To briefly review, ``Ocean's Eleven'' is a crime comedy released in 2001, and its biggest selling point was the all-star cast. The original story is ``Ocean 's Friends,'' a 1960 film starring Frank Sinatra and his family, who were known as the ``Rat Pack .'' George Clooney plays the role of Danny Ocean, the leader of the casino heist operation. Brad Pitt plays his buddy Rusty. Julia Roberts plays Danny's ex-wife Tess. Matt Damon plays the team's new pickpocket master.

“Ocean's Eleven” preview

There is no doubt that the appearance of just two of them would be considered a great co-star, but the new and old leading stars such as Andy Garcia, Elliott Gould, Don Cheadle, and Casey Affleck are generously participating. .

Soderbergh was on the upswing in his career when he went into production on Ocean's Eleven. The young genius, whose debut film `` Sex, Lies, and Videotape '' (1989) was submitted to the Cannes Film Festival and became the youngest person in history to win the Palme d'Or, has since been in a long slump. However, his first major studio offer, `` Out of Sight '' (1998), was highly acclaimed, and the human comedy `` Erin Brockovich '' (2000), based on a true story, depicts the never-ending drug war from a bird's-eye view. His group drama ``Traffic'' (2000) also received rave reviews, and in `` Traffic ,'' he demonstrated his abilities not only as a director but also as a cinematographer (under the pseudonym Peter Andrews).

Under such circumstances, it is no wonder that offers for major blockbuster movies come to him. However, this is not related to the fact that Soderbergh was simultaneously nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director for ``Erin Brockovich'' and ``Traffic'' (he won for ``Traffic''). This is because Soderbergh received word of his Academy Award nomination in February 2001, while filming Ocean's Eleven.

“Ocean's Eleven” (c)2019 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All rights reserved.

Soderbergh is the type of director who emphasizes concepts, but it seems that it was difficult to make such a major entertainment film. Soderbergh said he aimed to make an ``entertaining movie that you can enjoy without straining your shoulders from beginning to end.'' His previous film, ``Traffic,'' for which he served as director of photography, was based on a Columbus-like approach that involved applying extreme coloring to rough handheld footage. However, this time, one of the most important challenges was to shoot the film in a way that made it look like a ``classic entertainment movie,'' even in a craftsman's sense.

In reality, the film takes on various challenges, such as incorporating the stop-motion technique that was attempted in ``Out of Sight,'' but at the same time it succeeds in creating the atmosphere of a classic Hollywood movie from yesteryear. However, at one point, Soderbergh was seriously trying to shoot in black and white, so it's not clear to what extent he intended to do it on the "royal road." Regarding the black-and-white version, the studio said, ``If it's not color, the production costs will be significantly reduced,'' so they gave up on it.

“All-Star” casting was difficult