Margot Robbie has been a major Hollywood player ever since she was catapulted to worldwide fame thanks to Martin Scorsese’s The Wolf of Wall Street. Among the highlights of the actress’ resume are playing Harley Quinn in the Suicide Squad movies and Birds of Prey, as well as starring as the upcoming Barbie movie’s eponymous protagonist. Well, word’s come in that Robbie has joined another big franchise: the world of Ocean’s Eleven.
According to THR, Margot Robbie is re-teaming with Bombshell director Jay Roach for a new Ocean’s movie Robbie will both star in and produce alongside Tom Ackerley through their LuckyChap production company (Roach is also producing with Michelle Graham, his partner from Everyman Pictures). This new entry in the Ocean’s franchise, which is being written by Carrie Solomon, will take place in Europe during the ‘60s, but no other plot details have been revealed. It’s also important to mention that although Warner Bros. Pictures hasn’t officially greenlit this Ocean’s prequel, it is in active development, and the goal is to begin production in spring 2023.
The Ocean’s franchise kicked off in 2001 with Ocean’s Eleven, a loose remake of 1960’s Ocean’s 11 that starred five members of the Rat Pack. That first modern Ocean’s movie, which boasted an ensemble cast including George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon and Julia Roberts, was a critical and commercial success, paving the way for 2004’s Ocean’s Twelve and 2007’s Ocean’s Thirteen. 11 years after the original Ocean’s trilogy concluded, Warner Bros. released the spinoff Ocean’s 8, which featured an all-female lead cast anchored by Sandra Bullock’s Debbie Ocean, the sister of Clooney’s Danny Ocean. Ocean’s 8 made nearly $298 million worldwide and was met with more positive reviews than negative ones.
Evidently though, Warner Bros. is more keen on taking the Ocean’s franchise down another creative path rather than picking up where Ocean’s 8 left off. Still, assuming the Ocean family is featured in this prequel, that would suggest that Margot Robbie’s character will be related to Danny and Debbie Ocean; perhaps she’s their mother or aunt? Whoever she ends up playing, THR also said in its report that Ocean’s has “evolved into a recognizable brand,” and this prequel will allow WB to “stack the deck with big names and colorful locales.”
Assuming this Ocean’s prequel moves forward, it and the aforementioned Barbie aren’t the only movies Margot Robbie has coming up. This year sees her starring in David O. Russell’s Amsterdam and Damian Chazelle’s Babylon, the latter of which features Robbie as silent film actress Clara Bow. Robbie is also set to star with Tilda Swinton and Bill Murray (among big names) in Wes Anderson’s next flick, Asteroid City.
Stay tuned to CinemaBlend for more information on what’s happening with the Ocean’s prequel. There are also plenty of 2022 movie releases to keep you entertained while waiting for that next update.
