Still waiting on the 'Ocean's Eleven' prequel? There's finally a big step forward

Right, let’s get stuck into this. After a frankly chaotic few years of development, it looks like the Ocean’s Eleven prequel is not only finally happening, but shooting is properly underway—and there’s enough interesting detail flying about to turn a few heads, even if you’ve gone off the franchise in recent years.

Lots of Stops, Some (Very) Big Names

If you’ve lost track of this film, don’t blame yourself. What started back in May 2022 as a glitzy-looking project with Jay Roach directing and Ryan Gosling on board promptly got a dose of Hollywood chaos: Gosling left, Roach was replaced by Lee Isaac Chung, and then Chung legged it too—only this March, over that classic "creative differences." Meanwhile, George Clooney kept teasing a different sequel with the old cast, which made it look like Warners were trying to juggle two Ocean’s movies at once, neither of which seemed nailed down.

Bradley Cooper and Margot Robbie headline a cast filming across Paris, Nice, and Monaco through October 2026.

It wasn’t until this past week that anyone could say for sure at least one of these films was actually up and running. The clincher came with a run of set photos circulating across social platforms. Notably, there’s Bradley Cooper—who is now writing, directing, and starring after Chung's exit—seen operating a proper Panavision System 65 camera (think Christopher Nolan on Interstellar rather than dodgy digital). On a Paris street, no less. If you’re going to chase that Soderbergh glamour from the originals, you may as well commit to the large-format kit. Cooper’s got Ben Davis (Guardians of the Galaxy, Three Billboards) shooting, so that visual tone is likely to be front and centre.

Caper on the Côte d’Azur

Margot Robbie revealed a bit of the plot back at CinemaCon—easily the clearest description yet of the setup. Here’s how Robbie herself announced it to the room (in something of a bid for fan confidence):

Before Danny Ocean ever stepped foot in Vegas, two masterminds taught him everything he knows: his parents. You’ll see them in their prime, and in our new movie, pulling off an epic heist at the 1962 Monaco Grand Prix.

So that’s the headline: this is the story of Danny Ocean’s parents, long before Clooney’s Vegas shenanigans, getting into a major dust-up at the actual 1962 Monaco Grand Prix. The working assumption is that Robbie and Cooper are playing these criminal parents (no one at Warners has confirmed it, but there’s not a lot of ambiguity to be honest).

Early visuals are leaning hard into the period styling—Robbie in Hepburn-esque costumes has become a running theme for the fashion set, and Monica Barbaro was also snapped in full early ’60s gear. They’re not messing about with the locations, either: filming is scheduled across Paris, Nice, and Monaco right up until mid-October 2026, with scenes going down on the actual Monaco waterfront. That’s a rare case of the backdrops not just being scenic filler—the whole Monaco angle is the plot’s foundation this time, which is at least easier to buy than Ocean’s Twelve’s old European detour ever was.

The Cast Actually Looks Decent

• Bradley Cooper (star, writer, director, presumably one of the Ocean seniors)
• Margot Robbie (the other half of the Ocean parental duo)
• Monica Barbaro
• Wagner Moura (reportedly the villain)
• Vicky Krieps
• George MacKay
• Omar Sy
• Lauren Ridloff
• Josh Gad
• Jack Holden

That’s a much more European-leaning ensemble than usual for this series, which makes sense with all the filming on the Riviera and Monaco streets. This comes off as less America-does-Europe and more a proper continental heist, at least on paper. If you’re expecting Clooney, Pitt, or the old Soderbergh lot, don’t hold your breath—they’re not popping up here.

Prequel fatigue is real, but there’s actually reason to expect this one might not completely coast on the Ocean’s brand. Cooper’s directing is on a roll lately, Robbie’s LuckyChap outfit is quietly the most reliable label in scripted film right now, and the Monaco GP always photographs like a dream. At the bare minimum, this thing is giving off a good bit more confidence than your average legacy cash-in.

The untitled prequel lands in cinemas 25 June 2027.