Actor Andy Garcia has confirmed that he will reprise the role of Terry Benedict in the upcoming continuation of the Ocean’s franchise. He spoke about his involvement in the project on Monday in an interview with The Wrap. According to Garcia, filming was originally planned for January 2026, but the start date was postponed due to the need to align the participants’ schedules.
The actor’s representative did not respond to a request for comment from Entertainment Weekly, and Warner Bros. declined to comment on the situation.
What is Benedict up to this time?
Plot details for Ocean’s 14 are still being kept under wraps, and it is not yet possible to predict Terry Benedict’s role in the new story. The character may once again end up on the opposite side from Ocean’s crew, may switch sides for a while and become an ally, or act purely in his own interests. There’s precedent for each of these scenarios.
In the original trilogy, Benedict was a casino owner and Danny Ocean’s (George Clooney) main antagonist, and their conflict was heightened by a personal subplot: Julia Roberts’ character, Danny’s ex-wife, was in a relationship with Benedict. Even in Ocean’s Thirteen, where Terry was nominally on the team’s side, he ultimately betrayed his allies. This track record makes him one of the franchise’s most unpredictable characters.
Soderbergh behind the camera, Clooney in front of it
The sequel is being made under the guidance of Steven Soderbergh, who helped launch the entire series. Clooney was the first to publicly mention the existence of Ocean’s 14 two years ago, and since then he has continued to stoke anticipation among audiences.
In an October interview with E! News, Clooney shared specific details:
● The project has “a great script.”
● The budget has been approved by Warner Bros.
● The team is choosing a start date, targeting the beginning of filming “in about nine or ten months.”
“We just got the budget approved at Warner Bros. and we’re trying to get everything organized. It’s all about scheduling—we need to lock in a start date,” the actor explained.
The filmmakers hope that the new installment will be no less popular than the previous one. They plan to achieve this by attracting a new audience—online players. The main setting of the previous installments was Las Vegas, but the decline in tourist traffic to the gambling capital shows that this direction is losing its appeal. One of the reasons is that modern players mostly gamble online, including via mobile apps.
This also affects the choice of specific games. Although the classics are still competitive, mobile games like Aviatrix, Lucky Jet, Aviator, and Jet X are drawing increasing interest. A site about Lucky Jet, which lets you find the game here, shows the game’s popularity is growing. The core audience for gambling arcade-style games is Gen Z—and that’s exactly who the filmmakers are aiming to attract.
It’s possible to assume that to do this, they will use online casino themes in the plot at least partially. In that case, the film won’t be one of those that explore the essence of Las Vegas. But it will be closer to today’s viewer.
Who else is expected on set
No official cast list has been announced yet beyond Garcia and Clooney. However, Clooney named those he would like to reunite with on screen: Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Don Cheadle, and Julia Roberts.
“They’re all still very close friends, so the chance to work together would be a great joy,” he noted.
The road from Ocean’s Eleven to fourteen
The franchise launched in 2001 with Ocean’s Eleven, in which Clooney, as Danny Ocean, assembled a crew to rob Benedict’s casino. Key members of the “gang” included Pitt, Damon, and Cheadle. The sequel Ocean’s Twelve was released in 2004, and in 2007 the trilogy was concluded with Ocean’s Thirteen.
Over the years, the franchise has suffered significant losses. Bernie Mac, who played the witty Frank Catton and was widely regarded as one of the standout comedians of his generation, died of cardiac arrest in 2008 at the age of 50. Carl Reiner, who played the crafty Saul Bloom, passed away in June 2020 at the age of 98 of natural causes.
In 2018, the universe expanded with the spin-off Ocean’s 8 directed by Gary Ross, featuring an all-female crew: Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett, Rihanna, Helena Bonham Carter, Sarah Paulson, Mindy Kaling, Anne Hathaway, and Awkwafina.