Warner Bros is moving forward with its all-female spinoff of Ocean’s Eleven, this time dubbed Ocean’s Ocho, and has filled seven of the eight titular spots, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed.
Sandra Bullock and Cate Blanchett — both of whom have been long rumored to star in the movie — will head up the cast of the Gary Ross-helmed heist film that is scheduled to begin production in October in New York.
Like the Ocean’s Eleven films, the rest of the ensemble is stacked with major stars, including Anne Hathaway and Helena Bonham Carter. Mindy Kaling also is joining the cast, with music stars Rihanna (Battleship) and Awkwafina (Neighbors 2) rounding out the group.
Ocean’s Eleven director Steven Soderbergh, who is based in New York and is expected to be deeply involved with the spinoff — perhaps taking on a below-the-line job like he has done on other studio films, such as Magic Mike XXL — is producing solo (Ocean’s Eleven producer Jerry Weintraub died last year). Olivia Milch and Ross wrote the screenplay. The plan is for Soderbergh to finish shooting his own heist film Logan Lucky in Atlanta before segueing to the Ocean’s project.
Launching an all-female spinoff of a beloved franchise is a risky move, given that a similar all-female spinoff of Sony’s Ghostbusters failed to ignite at the box office in a way that justified the film’s $150 million budget. Ghostbusters will result in a $70 million write-down for Sony. However, Warner Bros. plans to keep its Ocean’s Ocho budget much smaller, considering that it wouldn’t call for the level of special effects that Ghostbusters required.
Susan Ekins is executive producing. Greg Silverman and Jesse Ehrman are shepherding the film for the studio.
