It won’t be soon, and it might not even be all that likely, but actor Matt Damon says he’s interested in a Rounders sequel.
The co-star of the iconic 1998 poker film appeared on the Rich Eisen Show, and the host, sportscaster Rich Eisen, asked him if anyone comes to him “with sequel ideas.” And the answer should excite some poker fans.
“The one that we’ve been talking about for years, and I just saw Edward Norton a few weeks ago, all of us want to do it is a second Rounders movie, because so much has happened in that poker world in the last 25 years. It would be fun to catch up with those guys,” Damon responded.
Rounders, which celebrated its 25th anniversary last September, is almost universally considered the best poker move of all time. Damon played the role of “Mike McDermott,” a law school student who dropped out to chase the thrill of playing cards. Norton, “Worm” in the movie, put his friend, McDermott, through some risky life-threatening situations playing underground poker games.
Rounders Sequel Would Answer Some Questions
At the end of the film — spoiler alert (but who hasn’t seen Rounders 100 times by now?) — McDermott was headed off to Las Vegas to compete in the World Series of Poker (WSOP). For the past 26 years, viewers have been left wondering if Mikey went on to win WSOP bracelets, if he ever got back with his girlfriend Jo, and if Worm has been able to stay out of jail.
The only way to answer those questions would be for the release Rounders II. Brian Koppelman, a poker fan who wrote the movie, has teased the possibility of a sequel multiple times in recent years. But he’s explained there are challenges in making it happen, some of which Damon explained to Eisen.
“There’s a whole, you’ve got to figure out the chain of title and who owns it, and you know and everybody’s got their hand in the pot. So, we got to figure out a way to make a deal that makes sense for everybody, particularly the people who are going to make the movie,” Damon said.
Eisen then asked what the movie would look like once the business side of things is figured out. Koppelman, as Damon mentioned, had written a sequel a decade ago. But “now there’s been a whole other change in the poker world since then.” As such, the old Rounders II script would likely be ditched or at least significantly revamped.
“What they had 10 years ago I thought was fantastic, and I’m sure they could, you know, they could augment and kind of roll with the times and update it to where we are today and make something great,” the actor continued.
Highlights from ‘Rounders’ Screenplay Posted by Brian Koppelman
Does the Poker World Need a Rounders Sequel?
When Rounders was originally released in 1998, as Damon mentioned, it “kind of bombed” at the box office. But the times have since changed. Poker became a mainstream game in 2003 following the Chris Moneymaker boom, and has continued to thrive to this day, seeing as the 2024 WSOP Main Event had a record 10,043 entrants.
Many of the references in Koppelman’s decade-old sequel would likely be irrelevant now. That said, not everyone is dying for a sequel. Sports talk radio producer and former Jim Rome Show call screener Jason Stewart, aka “J-Stew,” a recreational poker player, seems to think Rounders II would ruin the original.
Herbie Teope, a former PokerNews live reporter who is back covering the Kansas City Chiefs for the Associated Press, shared a different take than his fellow sports media member. The poker enthusiast used an iconic quote from the original Rounders to make his point.
Teope, who traded in reporting on Daniel Negreanu and other poker stars to cover the greatest team in NFL history, appears to have the same opinion as the majority on social media, as opposed to J-Stew’s negative tone about a Rounders sequel.
Longtime poker grinder and WSOP bracelet winner Will Jaffe shared a halfway positive, halfway negative take.
“Sounds good but we all know that this isn’t gonna happen. And if it does who are they gonna play? Rich part time businessmen? 50 year old circuit regs? Let some guys who’ve been in the grind take a shot. I’ll be Worm and Tony Dunst can play Mike Mcdrmt,” Jaffe tweeted.
Damon, an Academy Award-winning actor, was 27 years old when Rounders was released, but he’s now 53. Mike McDermott and Worm, along with Teddy “KGB” (John Malkovich) would have changed drastically since 1998. So, perhaps, Jaffe has a point. But there’s certainly a strong desire from many within the poker community to one day see a Rounders sequel.
