Movie fans rejoice: two of the biggest movie stars in the world are back in a film together, and all is again right in the world. The two movie stars in question are George Clooney and Julia Roberts, and the film they are starring in is Ticket to Paradise. This is not the first film the pair have starred in, and it is not the first film where the pair played a couple or in this case, a pair of exes.
It is also worth noting that there is one movie where the pair did work together, but not as actors. While Julia Roberts acted in the 2013 Meryl Streep-led film, August: Osage County, George Clooney was one of the producers, so while they did work together, they did not work together on screen. But there are several other movies where they acted together, so let’s take a look at every film the pair have starred in together in the past, including this new one, and break down who they played in each film.
Ocean’s Eleven
The first film in which both Julia Roberts and George Clooney starred was 2001’s Ocean’s Eleven, directed by Steven Soderbergh. It was a remake of the 1960 film of the same name which starred Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Sammy Davis Jr. The film follows Danny Ocean, played by Clooney, as he assembles a group of thieves to rob Terry Benedict’s (Andy Garcia) three casinos and steal back his ex-wife Tess Ocean, played by Julia Roberts, after they divorced because he went to prison for theft.
The film also stars Brad Pitt as Rusty Ryan, and Matt Damon as Linus Caldwell, alongside Bernie Mac, Elliot Gould, Casey Affleck, Scott Caan, Eddie Jemison, Shaobo Qin, Carl Reiner, and unofficially, Don Cheadle. In the end, the plan works and the group pulls off the heist, while Danny manages to show Tess that Benedict prioritized the casinos over her, and the pair live happily ever after, until the sequel that is.
Confessions of a Dangerous Mind
In addition to co-starring with Julia Roberts, George Clooney also made his directorial debut with the 2002 film Confessions of a Dangerous Mind. The film starred Sam Rockwell as the lead character, Chuck Barris, a version of the real person who was the creator of The Dating Game and The Gong Show. The film is based on the book Barris wrote which shares its name with the film. In the book, Barris claims that in addition to hosting popular television shows, he was contracted by the CIA as an assassin, although the CIA has denied this. Confessions of a Dangerous Mind follows the exploits of Barris as he acts as an assassin for the CIA, with George Clooney playing his handler Jim Byrd. Julia Roberts plays an operative named Patricia Watson who Barris runs into in the field.
Ocean’s Twelve
The sequel to the 2001 film Ocean’s Eleven, Ocean’s Twelve was the third film to star both George Clooney and Julia Roberts. The film featured the return of pretty much the entire cast of the first film, with the addition of Catherine Zeta-Jones as Isabel Lahiri, and it was also directed by Steven Soderbergh, hitting theaters in 2004. Ocean’s Twelve followed the events of the first film as Terry Benedict tracked down each member of Ocean’s Eleven and requested that they return the money they stole plus interest, or they would face the consequences.
They go on to carry out multiple heists in order to get the money to Benedict, while they are chased by Lahiri – who used to date Rusty – and are forced to outwit Baron François Toulour who also goes by the moniker of The Night Fox, played by Vincent Cassel. While George Clooney did return for the sequel to Ocean’s Twelve, which was aptly named Ocean’s Thirteen, both Julia Roberts and Catherine Zeta-Jones did not. Therefore Ocean’s Thirteen is not on this list, as well as Ocean’s Eight the spin-off film featuring Danny Ocean’s sister Debbie Ocean, played by Sandra Bullock, as neither Clooney nor Roberts returned for that film either.
Money Monster
Money Monster follows a man named Kyle Budwell, played by Jack O’Connell, who holds a live taping of a financial advice show called Money Monster hostage because a tip that George Clooney’s character Lee Gates advised people to take led Budwell to financial ruin. The film was directed by Jodie Foster, and it was released in 2016.
Jack O’Connell, George Clooney, and Julia Roberts arguably played the main characters, as Budwell held Patty Fenn (Roberts) hostage, as well as Gates. Fenn was the director of the Money Monster show and she and Gates help calm Budwell as they wait for the CEO of the company in which Budwell invested, Walt Camby, played by Dominic West. There was a 12-year gap between this film and their previous movie, and that is the longest gap between their films so far.
Ticket to Paradise
The most recent film for the pair to star in is Ticket to Paradise, and it is currently scheduled to be released on Oct. 21, 2022, after being pushed back from its initial release date. George Clooney and Julia Roberts play David and Georgia Cotton, a divorced couple who often argue whenever they come together for their child Lily Cotton played by Kaitlyn Dever.
After graduating from law school, Lily goes on a trip to Bali with her friend Wren, played by Billie Lourd. She goes on to meet a man and the two fall in love and plan to get married, leading her to call her parents to come to Bali. When her parents find out that she is planning to marry as young as they did, they come together to break the young new couple up, so they do not make the same mistake they did when they were younger, leading to their messy divorce.
Even though both actors have had long careers and you might think they had collaborated more, they have only appeared in five films together. But this does not mean that the pair could not keep appearing in films together as their careers continue, coming back every ten years or so to grace the big screen and remind us how fantastic they are on screen together.
Catch Ticket to Paradise when it comes to theaters on Oct. 21, 2022.