Ocean's 13, if you can believe it

This news out of Hollywood: there is an official start date, July 21, for the second sequel to the amazing Ocean's 11, not-so cleverly named, Ocean's 13. It's of note that the two previous films' stars, George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Don Cheadle, Bernie Mac, Elliott Gould, et al., shall be reprising their roles. Lacking in this list of returning players is, thankfully, Julia Roberts, whose character's role in the last film was ridiculous, and Catherine Zeta-Jones, whose non-existent chemistry with Brad Pitt was also ridiculous. The female lead in this film instead will be played by Ellen Barkin (she of The Big Easy), whose character will embark on a romance with Damon's Linus. Stages are being constructed on the Warner Bros. lot in California, and the filming will be staying stateside, all to keep the budget down and the paparazzi under control.
Now, I dig a good heist movie as much as the next person; actually, I really love it when the bad guy gets away with the money. (I hated Heat, simply because I knew that DeNiro's character was too smart to get killed at the end.) And I'm sure I'll end up forking over the $10 or so to check this film out. But here's to hoping that 13 won't be as disappointing as 12, and more on par with the brilliance of 11.