Poker players, is that the smell of hope in the air? In a Wednesday appearance on “The Rich Eisen Show,” Matt Damon said that of all the possible sequels to his films, Rounders is the one he wants to do the most. Going further, he said that there is a strong desire from everyone involved to make a Rounders 2.
The problem, Damon said, is the business side of things. Nobody who made the 1998 cult classic has the rights to the movie and apparently, it’s not easy to get them.
you gotta figure out a way to make a deal that makes sense for everybody”
“You gotta figure out who, the chain of title and who owns it, you know, and everybody’s got their hands in the pot,” the Academy Award-winner explained. “So you gotta figure out a way to make a deal that makes sense for everybody, particularly the people who are going to make the movie…so we’re trying to figure that out because I think we’d all like to do that.”
Damon added that Brian Koppleman and David Levien, the writers of Rounders and the seven-year hit series “Billions,” told him “ten to fifteen years ago” that they had a whole script ready to go. Because of the changes in the poker world, Damon believes that some adjustments would have to be made, but that he’s confident they’d be up to the task.
“What they had ten years ago I thought was fantastic and I’m sure they could augment and kind of roll with the times and update it to where we are today and make something great.”
Koppleman and Levien themselves were on “The Rich Eisen Show” five years ago and essentially echoed Damon’s feelings, saying they definitely want a Rounders sequel, but need to acquire the rights to the film.