Gary Ross and Sandra Bullock have calmly been assembling an all-female heist crew for their all-female heist film that’s more of a “continuation” of the Ocean’s Eleven franchise. When news about the project first broke last fall, Ross (The Hunger Games) was attached to direct, and Bullock announced as George Clooney’s successor in the role of lead con artist. And at the time, the film was dubbed an “all-female remake” of the 2001 movie, which was itself a remake. But it turns out Bullock is playing Ocean’s “ex-con sister,” who will lead a heist and crew of her own, which presumably means no childhoods or adolescences will be ruined in the making of the film (you win this round, nostalgia?).
But there’s even more good news, as Showbiz 411 has confirmed that Cate Blanchett is now firmly aboard the project as Bullock’s right hand (as in, person), with Mindy Kaling and Helena Bonham Carter also joining Ocean’s Ocho. (That’s currently just a playful nickname for the film, which will almost certainly change in the event of a Trump presidency.) The film’s premise is similarly revenge-fueled, as Bullock will enlist the aid of Blanchett, Kaling, Bonham Carter’s character to “steal a necklace from the Met Ball in order to frame a villainous gallery owner.”
Filming is set to begin this fall, which gives producers Ross, Clooney, and Soderbergh just two months to find the rest of the thieving gang. Jennifer Lawrence was rumored to be circling the project—if she does sign on, we hope she’ll take our advice and bring Amy Schumer along so they can play the Mormon siblings most recently depicted by as Casey Affleck and Scott Caan.