Ocean's Twelve(2004):Trivia

From NeoWiki

• Steven Soderbergh insisted that this film be made on the same budget as the original Ocean's Eleven (2001).
• Bruce Willis, who appears as himself in the film, was originally signed to play Danny Ocean in Ocean's Eleven (2001), but pulled out due to scheduling conflicts.
• The story of this film was taken from "Honor Among Thieves", a screenplay treatment written by George Nolfi that was originally intended to be a John Woo vehicle. When it was decided that Ocean's Eleven (2001) was going to have a sequel, Warner Bros. asked Nolfi to rewrite the script, adjusting it for the Ocean's Eleven characters.
• While on production in Rome, Brad Pitt and George Clooney were not allowed back into the hotel because the doorman thought they were vagrants after the actors were caught in a rain storm while jogging.
• Shooting in the Netherlands caused some train delays. The Thalys that was used in the film accidentally broke the upper contact wire. Since the wire broke at the point where several wires connected, the power on several tracks was lost. It took two hours to undo the damage.
• Some scenes which were supposed to be at the Amsterdam station were filmed at Haarlem train station (20 km away). Signs on the platform indicate "Amsterdam centraal" but on the real platform it says "Haarlem Centraal".
• When filming scenes in Sicily, security was tightened because several members of the Sicilian mafia were seen roaming near the shooting locations.
• The Night Fox's mansion is on the shores of Lake Como in Italy. The name of the city overlooking Lake Como is Bellagio. The city and the lake were the inspiration for the design of the Bellagio casino in Las Vegas, site of the heist in Ocean's Eleven (2001).
• Topher Grace, playing himself in an uncredited role, says, "I totally phoned in that Dennis Quaid movie." The movie he is referring to is In Good Company (2004), which was one of the trailers before this film in many movie theaters.
• Matt Damon requested just prior to the beginning of production that the script be revised so that his character would have a smaller role in the story. Damon had just finished shooting The Bourne Supremacy (2004) and claimed that he was too exhausted to play a character that had such a major role in the movie. Director Steven Soderbergh denied Damon's request, claiming that he felt Damon's character was integral to the plot and that giving Damon less screen time would diminish his character's impact on the plot.
• When Linus finally speaks to the gibberish-tooting Matsui, the words he speaks are from the Led Zeppelin song "Kashmir", as Rusty is quick to point out when they step outside. ("Kashmir?")
• The cell phone that Brad Pitt's character uses in the film (and which is stolen by Catherine Zeta-Jones) is a Siemens S65.
• Peter Fonda filmed a cameo as Bobby Caldwell, Linus's father, but it didn't make the final cut.
• Brad Pitt and George Clooney dress up in the traveling outfits of London football team Arsenal FC, while Yen gets transported in a travel bag carrying the Arsenal crest.
• During the sequence the audience is re-introduced to the characters, Reuben Tishkoff (Elliott Gould) is getting a tarot card reading. On the table, the card "Five of Wands" out of the Raider Waite deck can be seen. This card mainly symbolizes an upcoming competition between two parts.
• The drysuits used by the gang were custom made for the production in two weeks by husband-and-wife team Gareth and Tina Roberts of Gryphon Watersports in Staffordshire, England. Only one of the ten suits ordered had to be fully functioning and waterproof, but the tight deadline still meant that the couple had to work round the clock to get the suits ready in time for the shoot in Amsterdam.
• Before filming began, Brad Pitt put out a memo to all crew members stating that they only address George Clooney as his character's name Danny Ocean or Mr. Ocean. Eventually Clooney found out about this and got back at Pitt by putting bumper stickers on the back of his car that read "I'm gay and I vote" and "Small penis on board".
• Contains spoiler for The Sixth Sense (1999)
• During the scene on the train platform, Danny and Basher discuss Danny's age. The trailer features more lines between the two of them from this same scene, which did not make it into the final movie.
• Rusty's cell phone ring tone is "Pretty in Pink" by the Psychedelic Furs.
• In the rough working draft of the script, Clint Eastwood was penciled in for a cameo appearance to play the role of Matt Damon's (Linus Caldwell's) father, Bobby Caldwell.
• The video camera that Yen uses while in the hotel room is a Canon XL1S. For director Steven Soderbergh's low-budget/star-studded indie film Full Frontal (2002), he used the same camcorder to shoot the film and keep the budget low.
• When Bruce Willis is in Tess's hotel room, Linus says to Bruce, "We're looking to come off this pregnancy thing strong. You know, that little statue on the mantle starts smirking at you after a while, know what I mean?" Bruce says no, he doesn't. Both 'Julia Roberts' , whom he refers to, and Matt Damon have been awarded Oscars, while Willis has not.
• The mark for the first theft in Amsterdam is named van der Woude. One of the second unit assistant directors for the film was Basti Van Der Woude. He actually appears briefly in one scene, as the taller of the two suit-wearing gentlemen accompanying Cherry Jones.
• The white van in which the Fabergé egg is being transported in, is actually from an existing security company, whose name is visible on the side in certain shots (Group 4 Falck). They handle security and emergency services (ambulance and fire brigade) in the UK and Denmark.
• Europol is located in The Hague, and not in Amsterdam, as suggested in the movie. The scenes at the Europol office with Isabel were not shot in the Europol building, but rather in the city hall of The Hague. The Hague is about 50km south of Amsterdam.
• The museum intended to be robbed has the name "Galleria D'Arte di Roma" on the outside, but the building is not actually one of the countless museums in Rome (although some exhibitions are held there), but rather the British School at Rome located in the lands of Villa Borghese.
• The necklace that Brad Pitt wears in the movie is a replica of his wedding ring that he wore while married to Jennifer Aniston.

WARNING: Here Be Spoilers

Trivia items below here contain information that may give away important plot points. You may not want to read any further if you've not already seen this title.

• SPOILER: The transportation of the Fabergé Egg is analogous to the real world transport of the Cullinan Diamond in 1905. At 3106 uncut carats, transporting it safely from South Africa to England posed a bit of a problem with regards to security. Detectives from London were placed upon a steamer ship that was rumored to carry the stone, but this was a diversionary tactic. The stone on that ship was a fake, meant to attract those who would be interested in stealing it. The actual diamond was sent to England in a plain box via parcel post.
• SPOILER: Because 'Julia Roberts' 's character Tess pretends to be Julia Roberts during Ocean's Twelve (2004), the movie contains several subtle references to her previous movies. These include: the appearance of Bruce Willis, who recognizes Julia Roberts because they costarred in the fake movie within a movie in The Player (1992); Linus mistakenly thinking that the real Julia Roberts had been in Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994), when she was actually in Notting Hill (1999), another Richard Curtis movie in which she played a Julia Roberts-like actress (much as she does in Ocean's Twelve); and Tess being incarcerated with prostitutes, a reference to Pretty Woman (1990).
• SPOILER: When Tess is pretending to be 'Julia Roberts' and Matt Damon is walking with Bruce Willis, you can hear him mention under the noise that he "knew he was dead when (Bruce Willis's) wife wouldn't talk to (him)". This is a reference to The Sixth Sense (1999).
• SPOILER: The Night Fox uses capoeira (Brazilian martial arts) to dodge the lasers in an effort to steal the Faberge egg, a tribute/spoof of Catherine Zeta-Jones's similar performance in Entrapment (1999). The Night Fox practices similar aerobic movements on his deck.
• SPOILER: The movie that the "real" 'Julia Roberts' is discussing in L.A. is "Clowns Can't Sleep" which was the working title for the script of this movie.