Warner Bros. is “close” to securing deals with Anne Hathaway, Rihanna and other stars for its upcoming Ocean’s Eight, a female-led reboot of the casino heist caper Ocean’s Eleven.
According to Deadline, Hathaway, Rihanna, Helena Bonham Carter, Mindy Kaling and rapper-actress Awkwafina are nearing deals to join previously announced cast members Cate Blanchett and Sandra Bullock in the film, which is reportedly set to begin shooting in New York in October.
Ocean’s Eight will be directed by Gary Ross (Free State of Jones, The Hunger Games) and produced by Steven Soderbergh, who directed George Clooney and Brad Pitt in the 2001 film (itself a remake of the 1960 Rat Pack flick starring Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis, Jr.).
The 2o01 franchise reboot (which also boasted an A-list ensemble cast including Matt Damon, Don Cheadle, Julia Roberts, Bernie Mac and then-unknowns Scott Caan and Casey Affleck) spawned two sequels and ultimately earned a combined $1.12 billion at the box office.
Ocean’s Eight is the second high-profile film with which Rihanna is involved; the 28-year-old Barbados-born pop star will appear alongside Cara Delevingne, Ethan Hawke and John Goodman in Luc Besson’s sci-fi actioner Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets next summer.
The cast for Ocean’s Eight is still being finalized, according to Deadline, and the film could feature cameos from the stars of the 2001 film.
The Ocean’s reboot is the latest to feature a gender-flipped twist on a classic film property; earlier this summer, Sony released a female-led Ghostbusters remake starring Kristen Wiig, Leslie Jones, Melissa McCarthy and Kate McKinnon. That film is reportedly headed for a $70 million write-down for Sony, and a promised sequel appears increasingly unlikely.
Other gender-flipped films in the works include a reimagined take on Splash, starring Channing Tatum as a merman in the role made famous by Daryl Hannah in the 1984 original, and MGM’s remake of the 1988 crime comedy Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, with Pitch Perfect star Rebel Wilson set as one of two female co-leads.
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