Warner Bros confirmed this week that October will be the start date for Ocean’s Eight, the female-led spin-off of the successful Ocean’s franchise. Production is set to begin in New York with many actors having their roles confirmed, Deadline Hollywood has reported.
When the project was first announced, acaresses such as Sandra Bullock and Cate Blanchett were among those rumoured for the film, but with the studio announcing its principal cast, those roles have been confirmed. Alongside Bullock and Blanchett will be Anne Hathaway, Rihanna, Helena Bonham-Carter, Mindy Kaling and Nora Lum, who is also known by her hip-hop moniker Awkwafina. Even though the principal casting is closing, only seven of the eight roles have been cast. The roster still needs one more actor to fill in the title.
The film will be directed by director Gary Ross, who is known for his work on The Hunger Games. Producing the film will be Oceans Eleven director, Steven Soderbergh. Considering that the film is part of a franchise and not a “re-boot”, Ocean’s Eight has a high possibility of having cameos by actors from the original trilogy, such as Ocean himself, George Clooney, Matt Damon or the ever-hungry Brad Pitt. Though, no cameos have been confirmed, by starting the spin-off series at number Eight, it opens itself up for a trilogy of its own. As the original series made US$1.12 billion worldwide, you can’t imagine they’ll stop at just one.
The official announcement follows the release of female-led reboot of Ghostbusters, proving in spite of having to weather some losses, studios feel confident in rebooting previously successful franchises with a gender-swapped cast, weathering any criticism with the hope of box-office receipts. A remake of Splash will also be doing this, with Channing Tatum set to play the role of the mer…man. This can only be good news for Hollywood, allowing female actors (and Channing Tatums) to be cast in more diverse roles and have better representation within the film industry.
Currently, there is no release date for the film.
Image: Disney (Cate Blanchett in Cinderella)
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