Few times in recent film history has there been such a joyful synergy between two actors: Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling’s turn as Barbie and Ken has been a pleasure to witness.
During the summer the A-list duo were everywhere – both bleach blonde, tanned and dressed head-to-toe in lycra in the many Barbie trailers, and with Gosling going full ‘Ken-ergy’ during the non-stop plastic fantastic Barbie press tour. We’ve since been bereft of daily Ry-got content... a terrible thing.
But, happily, this shocking absence won’t be for too long: Robbie and Gosling are set to star in an upcoming prequel for the popular Ocean’s heist franchise, which has been in the works since spring 2022.
The film is set to be directed by filmmaker Jay Roach, who made Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997), Meet the Fockers (2004) and Dinner for Schmucks (2010).
According to the Associated Press, the film will be set in Monte Carlo in 1962, and will star the now iconic duo in undisclosed roles – though rumours are swirling that they will be playing the parents of Danny Ocean (Clooney’s part). The plot is still largely under wraps, but during an interview with AP Roach said that the new film will have The Monaco Grand Prix as the backdrop and will involve a famous shipping magnate.
“It’s a heist movie still, but it’s very much a love story,” said Roach to AP in June, citing Hitchcock’s classic To Catch A Thief – which starred Cary Grant as an elegant ex-burglar – as inspiration for the upcoming film.
“Originally there were some questions about whether it would be weird to have [Robbie and Gosling] together again after Barbie. But I think there’s just some pairings you want to see again and again,” said Roach during the interview.
Roach previously directed Robbie in Bombshell (2019), a dramatisation of the events that led to the resignation of Roger Ailes, the chairman and CEO of Fox News, in 2016. Robbie was nominated for a Golden Globe Awards and BAFTA Award for her role in the film.
The five previous Ocean’s film have all been incredibly popular, all making hundreds of millions at the box office - and it’s easy to see why: they’re glamorous and fun, with an old-school screwball energy and have had casts packed full of Hollywood’s biggest stars including Matt Damon, George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Andy García, Julia Roberts, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Vincent Cassel
The original Ocean’s 11, which was released in 1960, starred Frank Sinatra and Peter Lawford as Danny and Jimmy, two Second World War veterans who enlist nine of their old army buddies to rob five Las Vegas casinos. Dean Martin also starred.
When the film was remade by Steven Soderbergh in 2001, Clooney starred as Danny, while Pitt starred as Danny’s right hand man, Rusty. The update made a whopping $450 million at the worldwide Box Office, which led to three subsequent films.
The last Ocean’s spin-off, 2018’s Ocean’s 8, had an all-female cast, which included Sandra Bullock, Rihanna, Anne Hathaway, Dakota Fanning and Cate Blanchett.
