It seems like this is a very good time to be a fan of the Ocean’s Eleven franchise, as, hot on the heels of George Clooney revealing that Ocean’s Fourteen is back on the cards, news of the Margot Robbie-starring prequel has revealed that it is moving forward but without the Barbie reunion many expected to see.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, despite original reports suggesting that Ryan Gosling would be the main male lead opposite Robbie, it seems that this will not be happening. Stepping into his shoes is another Oscar nominee, Bradley Cooper. Although there are still very few details confirmed about the movie, Twisters helmer Lee Isaac Chung will be in the director’s chair, with Robbie’s LuckyChap producing. Three years on from when the project was first announced, there are still no plot details known beyond the original pitch of the film being set in the 1960s in Europe.
There would obviously be many reasons why the plan for Gosling to star in the movie fell through, especially when the project has been gestating for so long. Gosling is now starring in the upcoming Star Wars movie, Starfighter, and has several other projects lined up, which could have prevented him signing on the dotted line to go on the rob with Robbie. However, Cooper has proven himself with both comedy and dramatic roles in the past, and that could make him the perfect choice for an Ocean’s movie.
‘Oceans Fourteen’ Is Also Movie Forward According to George Clooney
At the beginning of the year, it was rumored that George Clooney and Brad Pitt would be returning to the Ocean’s franchise, with David Leitch in talks to direct. While there have been very few updates since, Clooney recently shared an unexpectedly positive update on the movie’s progress.
Speaking with E! News, Clooney was asked about the status of Ocean’s Fourteen. “We just got the budget approved at Warner Bros., and we’re trying to set up. It’s just scheduling, so it’s just setting a start date for us. Probably start in about nine or 10 months.”
This is perhaps not exactly surprising considering Warner Bros. quest to plunder their biggest franchises rather than risk money on untested and new projects. The Ocean’s movies have always paid their way in the past, so the nostalgic pull of a legacy sequel is unlikely to be a flop. The original movie, itself a remake of the 1960 Rat Pack movie of the same name, grossed over $450 million in 2001. This was followed by successful sequels, Ocean’s Twelve ($362M) and Ocean’s Thirteen ($311M), as well as the all-female spinoff, Ocean’s 8 ($297M). All of this seems to clearly signal why there are now two Ocean’s movies in development.
With both Ocean’s Fourteen and the Ocean’s prequel seemingly set to move forward at the same time, there is every chance that we will end up seeing both projects arriving in cinemas in quick succession. This could be either a perfect combo for fans, or could be seen as too much in a short space of time and lead to both movies struggling to fill cinemas, but this is a problem for 2027 at the earliest.
- Release Date
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December 7, 2001
- Runtime
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116 minutes
- Writers
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Ted Griffin, Jack Golden Russell, George Clayton Johnson, Harry Brown, Charles Lederer
- Producers
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Jerry Weintraub