Now that Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is out of the way, we can focus on the real prequel everyone is looking forward to: Ocean’s Eleven’s upcoming origin story. Yes, that is happening, even if you originally thought they were kidding or forgot about it. Make no mistake: Oceans 8 is still a great movie, despite what the world wants you to think. But it’s time to get back to the basics, which now include Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, the king and queen of Summer 2023.
Jay Roach, known for directing your dad’s favorite movie Austin Powers and your mom’s favorite movie Meet The Parents, is currently developing the Ocean’s prequel that’s expected to begin filming this month. Do you think Robbie and Gosling are sick of each other yet?
Though details have been sparse, Roach recently shared a bit of info about the film with AP. As previously stated, the movie will star Gosling and Robbie, and now we know it will be set in Monte Carlo in the 1960s. Filming is currently scheduled to begin in France, and AP says it will be a “glamorous” take on the original 1960s heist story starring Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Sammy Davis Jr.
AP News writer Lindsey Bahr confirmed Roach’s vision for the movie through a series of quotes from her conversation with the director. “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,” he told Bahr in a segment from her interview. “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. We didn’t quite sync up yet on what the right budget for it is.” There are options to consider, like maybe funneling all of the profits from Barbie into this production, but that’s for the higher-ups to plan.
The question on everyone’s minds, of course, is if the world is even ready for that much Gosling/Robbie power after Barbie. Could we really go into another pink paint shortage in this economy?
Roach continued, “Originally there were some questions about whether it would be weird to have (Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling) together again after Barbie. But I think there’s just some pairings you want to see over and over again. It’s such a powerful, powerful duo, you know? And it’s and the suspense of will they come together; will they trust each other enough to team up? That’s romantic.” The same could be said about Barbie, but we don’t really know how that one will play out yet.
