It’s a good time to be a fan of the Ocean’s heist franchise. Not only did George Clooney recently share that the budget for Ocean’s 14 has been approved, the Ocean’s Eleven prequel that was revealed in May 2022 remains in active development. Originally the plan was for Barbie duo Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling to reunite for the prequel, but it sounds like Gosling is no longer attached. Instead, another Hollywood A-lister is being lined up to work with Robbie for the first time.
Bradley Cooper is reportedly in negotiations to co-star in the still-untitled Ocean’s prequel alongside Robbie. According to Deadline, he’s been “close” with the actress for years and they’ve “always wanted to work together.” After meeting with the director, Twisters’ Lee Isaac Chung, Cooper was game to come aboard.
While Bradley Cooper’s inclusion isn’t set in stone just yet, Deadline’s report mentions that he has “strong ties” with Warner Bros. Pictures, home of the Ocean’s franchise and where his current production deal is set up. He’s also starring in the Steven Spielberg-directed Bullit for the studio. So between that and his eagerness to work with Margot Robbie, it seems like the chances of Cooper joining the Ocean’s Eleven prequel are stronger than not.
The prequel is expected to begin filming sometime next year, so ideally we’ll learn in the next few months if Bradley Cooper is officially added as Margot Robbie’s co-star. Other than taking place in the 1960s, several decades before the events of Ocean’s Eleven, no plot details for the project have been revealed. Carrie Solomon wrote the latest draft of the screenplay. In addition to starring, Robbie is also producing through her LuckyChap production company.
It’s unclear why things fell through with pairing Ryan Gosling with Margot Robbie again, but I’m definitely interested to see how she and Bradley Cooper would do together on the big screen. The Ocean’s franchise would also be a worthy addition to both their resumes, with the four movies, which were inspired by the 1960 Rat Pack-led Ocean’s 11, making over $1.4 billion collectively. 2018’s Ocean’s 8 was the last entry released, with the spinoff starring Sandra Bullock as Debbie Ocean, the sister of George Clooney’s Danny Ocean.
As far as what Margot Robbie and Bradley Cooper have coming up individually, Robbie, who can be seen now in A Big Bold Beautiful Journey, will next be seen in the 2026 movie release Wuthering Heights, which is loosely based off the same-named Emily Brontë novel. Is This Thing On?, Bradley Cooper’s next movie, debuts at the New York Film Festival tomorrow and will release wide on December 19.