The 1998 role Matt Damon has always been desperate to reprise: “All of us want to do it”
Having spent almost 30 years as a major player in Hollywood without ever coming close to suffering anything that even remotely resembles a career slump, conventional wisdom dictates that Matt Damon shouldn’t have any trouble getting a passion project off the ground.
He’s an Academy Award-winning screenwriter, an Oscar-nominated producer, and a three-time acting nominee with two Golden Globe wins under his belt as an on-camera performer, never mind the fact that he literally founded and co-owns a production company alongside platonic life partner Ben Affleck.
That doesn’t even include a filmography that’s earned almost $10billion at the global box office, over a dozen producing credits, or his longtime habit of doing favours for friends by making uncredited cameo appearances in almost anything that gets offered his way.
As an A-list veteran, Damon is very familiar with the idea of sequels. He’s headlined four Jason Bourne flicks, lent support in three star-studded Ocean’s capers, and played Loki twice apiece under very different circumstances for Kevin Smith and Marvel Studios. And yet, he still can’t get Rounders 2 up and running.
The first instalment of John Dahl’s 1998 film starred the actor as a poker player under pressure, Mike McDermott, who risks it all when he reunites with Edward Norton’s freshly released convict and best friend to try and salvage both of their debts in a high-stakes game. It was warmly received by critics, almost doubled its production costs in ticket sales, and became a slow-burning cult favourite, but all of which clearly hasn’t been enough.
Over the years, Rounders has enjoyed a remarkable second life. As the poker boom exploded during the early 2000s, the film became essential viewing for aspiring players, with many professionals citing it as one of the movies that sparked their interest in the game and cemented its reputation far beyond its modest theatrical run.
“The one we’ve been talking about for years, and we’re trying to, and I just saw Edward Norton a few weeks ago, all of us want to do it, is a second Rounders movie,” he said in a 2024 appearance on The Rich Eisen Show. “So much has happened in the poker world in the last 25 years, it would be fun to catch up with those guys.”
Damon has repeatedly stressed that any sequel would need to justify its existence rather than simply cash in on nostalgia. With online poker, televised tournaments and the gambling landscape having transformed dramatically since 1998, he believes there is enough fresh material to revisit Mike McDermott’s world without simply repeating the original.
Dahl may not have helmed a feature since 2007’s You Kill Me, but he’s evolved into one of television’s most reliable and prolific figures, directing episodes of countless hit TV shows, including Dexter, Breaking Bad, Homeland, Hannibal, Ray Donovan, Yellowstone, and The Walking Dead.
For whatever reason, not even the promise of Dahl, Damon, and Norton getting the band back together for a Rounders sequel has stirred the loins of the rightsholders. The film was distributed by Miramax, which is now under the Paramount umbrella, but they seem unwilling to play ball. Or cards, in this case.
The Oscar winner did intimate that acquiring the rights to make it was the roadblock that had prevented him from reprising the one role he’s been desperate to play again for three decades. It remains to be seen if Damon will be able to cut through the red tape and make his dream a reality.
For now, Rounders 2 remains one of Hollywood’s more curious unrealised sequels. The creative team appears willing, the audience still exists, and the changing face of professional poker offers plenty of new territory to explore. Whether the legal hurdles can eventually be overcome is another matter, but Damon’s enthusiasm suggests he hasn’t folded on the idea just yet.
