George Clooney couldn’t resist trying to get a laugh out of his friend and frequent collaborator Steven Soderbergh by proposing a spicy mashup of Ocean’s Eleven and Magic Mike.
Per Entertainment Weekly, Clooney attended the 2023 TCM Classic Film Festival with Soderbergh, the man behind both franchises. When asked if he would return for another Ocean’s Eleven sequel, the star couldn’t contain his delightful sense of humor, swinging his microphone suggestively as he quipped, “Ocean’s Mike?“
TMC host Ben Mankiewicz got in on the fun and offered the alternate film title, Magic Danny, referencing Cloney’s character Danny Ocean. Clooney riffed on the idea, saying “Danny gets his groove.”
The comment was Clooney’s suave pushback against the absurd suggestion that he return to the Ocean’s Eleven franchise even though his character is dead. However, it wouldn’t be the first time a movie mysteriously resurrected a popular figure, and as the amused host pointed out, Ocean’s Eleven takes place in Las Vegas.
Interestingly, the idea might not be as far-fetched as he thinks, considering the success of The Full Monty in 1997. The film tells the story of six unemployed men who reinvent themselves as male strippers. The production had a budget of $3.5 million and raked in a massive $258 million at the box office. Chances are Clooney’s proposed film fusion might be the seed of a hit.
Soderbergh and Clooney reminisced about how their partnership began, as they found each other at a time when both had suffered brutal box office blows. Soderbergh’s film The Underneath had bombed, while Clooney’s foray into DC saw him succeed Val Kilmer but fail to connect with audiences in the 1997 dud Batman & Robin. The 61-year-old laughed off the venture and its oddly anatomically correct costume, joking that “I know you like that movie. I know you like the bat nipples.”
It’s telling that Soderbergh remained ominously silent during the Magic Danny discussion, so the film is unlikely to materialize outside the realm of imagination.