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4 Years On, The Ocean’s Eleven Prequel Just Got Way More Exciting

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The prequel will reportedly be a period piece set in the 1960s, where Robbie and a male co-star (once thought to be her Barbie leading man, Ryan Gosling) will play the parents of Danny Ocean, George Clooney’s master thief and ringleader from Steven Soderbergh’s Ocean’s Eleven trilogy. The 1960s setting won’t just reveal the story of Danny’s parents, but will also be a direct head-nod to the style of the original Ocean’s Eleven movie (1960), which starred Frank Sinatra and his “Rat Pack” buddies Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr. While the prequel is taking shape, a direct sequel to the trilogy, title Ocean’s Fourteen is also in the works. David Leitch is set to direct, while members of the original cast are set to return.

Bradley Cooper Has Become An Acclaimed Filmmaker (More So Than An Actor)

If you are not a cinephile, you may only know Bradley Cooper from his acting roles in popular franchises like Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy and The Avengers films (where he voices the now-iconic character of Rocket Raccoon), or more recently, playing Superman’s (bad) daddy, Jor-El, in James Gunn’s DCU reboot. However, when he’s not playing in the sandboxes of comic book cinematic universes, Cooper has carved out a lane for himself as an acclaimed filmmaker.

It started in 2018 when Cooper released his remake of A Star Is Born, which he co-wrote, directed, and starred in opposite pop megastar Lady Gaga. The film earned $436.3 million worldwide on a budget of just $36 million, wowed critics and audiences alike, and became a major awards-season darling. It earned eight Academy Award nominations and five Golden Globe nominations, winning one of each for Cooper and Gaga’s romantic duet “Shallow”. To that point, A Star Is Born also became a Grammy darling thanks to its hit soundtrack, earning seven nominations and winning in four of those categories.

A Star Is Born‘s massive success made the case for Bradley Cooper to take his career in a new direction. His second directorial effort, Maestro (2023), was a biopic about eccentric conductor-composer Leonard Bernstein, which Cooper again co-wrote, directed, and starred in. The film wasn’t nearly as successful as A Star Is Born (but then, how could it be?); Maestro only earned $523,000 at the box office against a budget of $80 million; however, it was another critical and awards season darling, with seven Oscar nominations and four nominations from the Golden Globes (no wins). Maestro did walk away with a Grammy for “Best Compilation Soundtrack For Visual Media”, keeping Cooper’s streak alive.

His third film, however (the indie relationship dramedy Is This Thing On?) didn’t really hit big. Releasing at the end of 2025, the film earned just $12 million at the box office and received no significant award nominations. That all said, it was another critical darling, proving Cooper is one of the more talented and acclaimed filmmakers working today. A big franchise project would be the next hurdle to overcome, and Ocean’s Eleven is more suited to Cooper’s style and vision than any Marvel or DC movie would be.

However, a lot of fans are also going to want Bradley Cooper sharing the screen opposite Margot Robbie, and count us among them.

No official production timeline for the Ocean’s Eleven prequel has been released, but Warner Bros. is clearly trying to get it going. Discuss the casting with us over on the ComicBook Forum.

Source: The Wrap