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Soderbergh considered shooting in black and white; the code names (Boski, Jim Brown, Miss Daisy, two Jethros, Leon Spinks, Ella Fitzgerald) all appear in the movie; Clooney sent Julia Roberts the script with a $20 bill; Don Cheadle is unbilled after a billing dispute, resolved in 12 and 13
In the discussion (4)
Approx. transcript time · 00:31:33Read transcript
- Soderbergh considered shooting the film in black and white; one host would have liked that, but it would lose pops of color like her jacket at the boxing match, would not have been as mainstream successful since it is a popcorn flick, and would change the commentary on celebrity and make it more moody.
- The code names in the we're-going-to-need speech are all represented in the movie: a Boski (as transcribed), after the Wall Street fraudster, is Reiner's con man Saul; the Jim Brown is the Bernie Mac bit; Miss Daisy is the getaway vehicle; the two Jethro's are the Molloy's (as transcribed); Leon Spinks refers to doing something during a boxing match; the Ella Fitzgerald is the videotaped robbery, after her 1970s Memorex commercial with the tagline is it live or is it Memorex; credit to Ted Griffin.
- Roberts, coming off Aaron Brogovich (as transcribed), was probably the biggest movie star in the world making $20 million a movie; when Clooney sent her the script he attached a note reading I hear you're getting 20 a picture now, with a $20 bill inside, and of course he called it a picture.
- Not much drama surrounds the movie, but Don Cheadle was not psyched about his placement and billing; he has said he would have done it for free but is glad he did not; he is famously unbilled, his name absent from the credits, which was resolved in 12 and 13 by placing him alongside Damon, Clooney and Pitt; as one of two black actors in the film, his fight for recognizability is interesting.