There’s hardly any more beloved movies among poker fans than Rounders. The cult classic came out in 1998 with an real A-list cast: Matt Damon, Edward Norton and John Malkovich all played a part.
Although the movie wasn’t a commercial success, grossing only $22.9 million on a $12 million production budget, it is undeniably adored by poker fans. You can often hear quotes at the table such as “thinking about Vegas and the fucking Mirage” or “pay that man his money” even over 20 years after its release.
Since then, a sequel has always been a dream for many avid cardplayers. These fans have now got a real poker power figure on their side – Daniel Negreanu
Daniel Negreanu Really Wants Rounders 2
“KidPoker” tweeted out his desire to see how the protagonist, Mike McDermott’s fate turned out.
Rounders is on, so it’s on my TV always. Just thinking about this fact:
I NEED a Rounders II.
We all NEED one.
Make it happen @briankoppelman!
It’s never too late to find out how Mikey McD made out in Vegas and beyond.
We need to know.
— Daniel Negreanu (@RealKidPoker) September 21, 2019
Remember, Rounders ended with a cliff hanger – Matt Damon driving off to Las Vegas to chase the then $1 million WSOP Main Event first prize.
It seems that there might just be a market for Rounders 2 as the post has garnered a lot of attention. It received more than 4,000 likes and 500 retweets –it’s rare to see a poker-related post with that much engagement on Twitter.
Negreanu tweeted directly at one of the screenwriters of Rounders, Brian Koppelman. The man is quite prominent in Hollywood, with such writing credits under his belt as Ocean’s Thirteen and such producer credits as The Illusionist or The Lucky Ones.
He took the time to shoot Dnegs a quick response, doing away with any hope for a potential upcoming Rounders sequel.
No, thanks. We know the movie we’d make. All best.
— Brian Koppelman (@briankoppelman) September 22, 2019
Later, Koppelman followed up by naming the poker legends who inspired him while writing the script.
Doyle, Huck Seed, @phil_hellmuth, Mr. Chan and the Book Of Tells by Mike Caro really inspired us when we were writing Rounders. These were the people we knew Mike McD would care about. Wanna be like. https://t.co/6kqjGBlGiV
— Brian Koppelman (@briankoppelman) September 22, 2019
Given the fact that Phil Hellmuth was in there, the 15-time bracelet winner evidently retweeted it proudly.
Will There Ever Be a Rounders 2?
Unfortunately for eagerly awaiting fans, a Rounders 2 movie just isn’t likely.
In October 2018, the star of the original movie, Matt Damon directly addressed the issue, saying why he doesn’t think the movie could be made.
“The international box office is to blame, movies that are big and really understandable to people all around the world, across language and culture… white hat, black hat, superheroes. It makes total sense, right? Everybody knows who the good guy is and who the bad guy is. They spend $400 million and blow a lot of shit up. You can’t put Rounders into a movie theater up against that stuff!” – said Damon in an episode of the Bill Simmons Podcast.
Recently, there has been another major Hollywood release about poker.
In late 2017, Aaron Sorkin’s Molly’s Game came out. It’s a biographical crime drama about Molly Bloom, a socialite who was arrested for organizing illegal poker games for some well-known people.
It received an Academy Award nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay. However, it wasn’t a blockbuster success.
Reportedly, a biopic about John Hesp, the British elderly recreational player who made it to the final table at the 2017 WSOP Main Event is in the works. However, the release date isn’t set yet.
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