Regardless of how you may feel about Greta Gerwig’s Barbie, there’s simply no denying the onscreen chemistry between Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling — which is an extremely promising sign for their reunion in the upcoming Ocean’s 11 prequel.
Initially, it was believed to be a prequel to the all-star Steven Soderbergh trilogy led by George Clooney, Brad Pitt, and Matt Damon. Then, the conversation shifted towards a prequel to the original Ocean’s 11 starring Frank Sinatra’s Rat Pack; set in Europe (more specifically Monte Carlo) during the swinging 60s.
RELATED: ‘Ocean’s 14’ Is Still On The Cards, According To Don Cheadle
Now, it’s now been confirmed that both reports were sorta correct.
According to Showbiz411, it’ll simply be dubbed Oceans with Robbie and Gosling set to portray the parents of Danny (George Clooney) and Debbie Ocean (Sandra Bullock).
The Barbie co-stars’ characters will spend the duration of this feature-length affair teaching their impressionable young offspring the fundamentals of thieving from the rich in the ever-glamourous Monaco. Heist 101 abroad, if you will.
“The Monaco Grand Prix is the backdrop and there’s a big famous shipping magnate who has a yacht. It’s not inexpensive. And I wanted it to be old-fashioned,” director Jay Roach noted on a previous occasion.
“Margot brought it to me as a kind of old-fashioned epic love story slash adventure disguised as a heist. It is a heist movie still, but it’s very much a love story. And we were both inspired by Hitchcock. To Catch A Thief but also Notorious. It just wants to be a big, big, you know, cinematic spectacle.”
Based on how Robbie and Gosling managed to play off one another throughout the duration of Barbenheimer‘s pinker half, what we already know about the Ocean’s mythology, and the killer costuming opportunities (Monaco in the 60s… I mean come on), we’re just about ready to bet the house on this one.
In addition to taking centre stage, Margot Robbie has signed on to produce the Ocean’s 11 prequel along with her husband and partner at LuckyChap Entertainment Tom Ackerley, LuckyChap’s Josey McNamara, Ocean’s 8 director Gary Ross, and Olivia Milch.
Robbie has also reunited with the aforementioned Roach, who directed her in Bombshell; the Ocean’s 11 screenplay, on the other hand, is being accomplished by debutante Hollywood scribe Carrie Solomon as we speak. Sources indicate Village Roadshow is involved with the co-financing.
When Matt Damon’s Linus Caldwell said, “I guess I’ll see you when I see you” to Clooney’s Danny Ocean, Brad Pitt’s Rusty Ryan, and by extension, the audience during the closing airport scene of Ocean’s 13… we all assumed he meant within the following years.
Little did we know, the franchise grind to a halt for over a decade until Gary Ross’ all-female Ocean’s 8 fronted by Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett, Anne Hathaway, Rihanna, Sarah Paulson, Helena Bonham Carter, and more. But reboots and spin-offs aside, the saga may soon experience further expansion with the long-awaited Ocean’s 14.
Speaking to Entertainment Weekly while promoting his latest collaboration with Ocean’s trilogy director Steven Soderbergh, No Sudden Move, Don Cheadle — who played the cartoonish British demolitions expert Basher Tarr — revealed he’d been in discussions with the man himself about the matter.
“We were talking about it [after Ocean’s Thirteen], and then Bernie Mac passed, and very quickly we were like… ‘No, we don’t want to do it,’” Don Cheadle explained back in 2021.
“But I just did a movie with Steven and he said, ‘I think there may be a way to do it again. I’m thinking about it.’ And it didn’t go much further than that. But I don’t know… I don’t know who all would be in it. I imagine the main group of us would be in. It would be interesting to see.”
Beyond Bernie Mac, who portrayed the incredibly charismatic Frank Catton, Saul Bloom actor Carl Reiner has also since passed away. Meaning Danny Ocean and Rusty Ryan will probably need to find a few others to fill out the crew; joining Elliot Gould as Reuben Tishkoff, Casey Affleck as Virgil Malloy, Scott Caan as Turk Malloy, Eddie Jemison as Livingston Dell, Shaobo Qin as The Amazing Yen, and of course, Cheadle’s Basher.
RELATED: I Actually Did ‘Barbenheimer’ — Here’s How It Went
How Soderbergh has found “a way to do it again” is anyone’s guess. Especially considering Danny Ocean ostensibly “died” off-screen in Ocean’s 8, which also featured a cameo appearance from Qin.
Perhaps Danny and Rusty will state it simply wasn’t Frank or Saul’s fight onscreen, similar to how they handled Julia Roberts and Catherine Zeta-Jones’ absence as Tess Ocean and Isabel Lahiri respectively in Ocean’s 13. Perhaps crew members from Ocean’s 8 will pop up for this one.
Release dates have obviously yet to be set for both Oceans 14 and the Ocean’s 11 prequel (or Oceans) starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling. In terms of the latter, pre-production reportedly kicked off at the end of June, so don’t expect anything until mid-to-late 2024; while the former may never actually materialise.
We watched and ranked the top 10 Ryan Gosling movies. Check it out now.
