In the eyes of the studios, Ocean’s Eleven became the template for what a marketable and bankable heist movie should look like in the 21st century. The ripple effect caused by the movie’s success is undeniable it went on to include much more than the two direct sequels and 2018’s all-female side-quel, Ocean’s Eight. And in December of 2001, it was a massive hit, making $450 million worldwide and cracking the top ten domestic earners for the year, just ahead of Jurassic Park III. Written by Ted Griffin and directed by Steven Soderbergh, the Ocean’s Eleven remake was cool, fun, energetic, and had more stars than could reasonably fit on a poster. In short, characters in a heist movie are figures audiences can admire on the screen.Īnd perhaps the biggest reason the heist film has continued to endure to this day has to do with a 2001 film called Ocean’s Eleven, which represented everything that’s good about the form. They’re problem solvers, usually smarter than the audiences they’re daring to keep up.

They have a clear goal, often one with a higher significance. In the movies, the characters pulling off these daring acts of grand theft aren’t just gimme-your-wallet punks, but something more elevated. Yet the heist movie lasted for a variety of reasons, not least of all the fact that the template itself is alluring. (This weekend, in fact, sees the release of King of Thieves).īut it wasn’t easy: Over the last two decades, studio output evolved, homogenized, and pushed mid-market adult fare like crime and romance toward extinction. It’s why the format has survived and thrived well into the 21st century. Heist movies have suspense, stakes, and conflict baked into the structure. There’s always going to be something compelling about a crew pulling off an elaborate theft onscreen.

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