‘I was very proud of those guys’

Key points

• George Clooney said he was “very proud” of the thieves who recently stole historic jewels from the Louvre.

• “They seem to have done a pretty good job at getting away with it,” said the actor behind the professional thief Danny Ocean.

• Clooney also suggested that the upcoming Ocean’s 14 should rip its plot from the headlines: “I think we should rob the Louvre.”

The Louvre heist has prompted reactions of awe, disbelief, and outrage — but George Clooney is one of the few onlookers who feel both pride and a tinge of jealousy.

The actor, who portrayed dapper casino thief Danny Ocean in Ocean’s Eleven and its sequels, reflected on the audacious burglary in which a group of thieves stole more than $100 million worth of historic jewels from Paris’ foremost museum on Sunday.

“It was cool,” Clooney said of the Louvre theft during an interview with Variety on the Jay Kelly red carpet. “I mean, it’s terrible. But if you’re a professional thief like I am, I was very proud of those guys.”

The Michael Clayton star added that he’s unsure if the culprits will evade authorities. “I wonder if they’re going to catch these guys,” he said. “They seem to have done a pretty good job at getting away with it.”

Clooney’s comments came as part of a broader conversation about another Ocean’s installment, which the actor has sporadically teased over the past few weeks. “I think we should rob the Louvre,” he suggested for the long-awaited sequel’s plot. “But somebody’s already done it, man, I dunno.”

It seems that Clooney would settle for just being retroactively inserted into existing footage of the thieves descending from the museum on an electric ladder. “I think you gotta put me in, CGI me into that basket coming out of the Louvre,” Clooney told the Associated Press at the same event. “I think you should do that.”

The Fantastic Mr. Fox star also expressed his admiration for the thieves’ audacity during an interview with Entertainment Tonight at the same event. “I was amazed that it was in the middle of broad daylight. Insane,” he said. “But every place gets robbed, I guess.”

Clooney weighed in on the forthcoming Ocean’s prequel starring Margot Robbie, for which Bradley Cooper is reportedly in talks to join the Barbie star. “They’re gonna play my parents,” Clooney said, noting that he’ll have no creative input on that particular project. “They’re all very gifted and talented, and they’ll all figure it out. I get to go and watch as a fan.”

Earlier this month, Clooney confirmed that a new Ocean’s sequel is moving forward in the near future with his involvement and that a “great script” has already been submitted. “We just got the budget approved at Warner Bros. and we’re trying to set up,” he said. “It’s just scheduling, so it’s just setting a start date for us. Probably start in about nine or 10 months shooting.”

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The 2001 movie Ocean’s Eleven — itself a remake of the 1960 Rat Pack film of the same name — starred Clooney, Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts, Matt Damon, Andy Garcia, Don Cheadle, Elliott Gould, Bernie Mac, Carl Reiner, Eddie Jemison, Qin Shaobo, Casey Affleck, and Scott Caan. They all reprised their roles in 2004’s Ocean’s Twelve, which added Catherine Zeta-Jones, Vincent Cassel, and Eddie Izzard to the fold. Roberts and Zeta-Jones did not return for 2007’s Ocean’s Thirteen, but the rest of the cast reprised their roles alongside newcomers Al Pacino and Ellen Burstyn.

There’s no official word at this point regarding who, besides Clooney, would return for a potential Ocean’s sequel. Mac and Reiner both died in the years since their last appearance in the franchise, while Gould and Shaobo both returned for brief cameos in the 2018 spinoff Ocean’s Eight, which starred Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett, Helena Bonham Carter, Anne Hathaway, Mindy Kaling, and Rihanna.

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