A stunning actress has joined the upcoming installment of the Ocean’s Eleven saga, which will be a prequel featuring Margot Robbie and Bradley Cooper.
You’re allowed to sigh at the idea of not one, but TWO Ocean’s Eleven projects in the works. On the one hand, the more obvious: a new sequel, Ocean’s Fourteen, expected to bring back George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Julia Roberts, and Don Cheadle. Recent reports say Warner Bros. has greenlit the budget and the script, with director David Leitch (Bullet Train, The Fall Guy) on board, and filming penciled in for late 2026.
Meanwhile, there’s this Ocean’s Eleven prequel, discussed since 2022, with Margot Robbie serving as both actress and producer. The project has weathered a few stumbles over the years, from directors Jay Roach (Austin Powers, Meet the Parents) and then Lee Isaac Chung (Minari, Twisters) stepping away, to the near casting of Ryan Gosling in a bid to reunite the Barbie duo. In the end, glory came in pairs: Bradley Cooper was tapped to play opposite Robbie and to direct the film.
And it looks like this whole venture is gathering steam, because after Wagner Moura (Civil War, Secret Agent), another stunning actress has joined the Ocean’s Eleven prequel.
A SETH IN OCEAN’S ELEVEN
Deadline broke the news exclusively: Monica Barbaro has, reportedly, joined the cast of this new film. The actress isn’t yet a household name on the level of Margot Robbie or Bradley Cooper, but she’s widely recognized for her undeniable talent. She rose to prominence with her work in Top Gun: Maverick and the Netflix series Fubar with Arnold Schwarzenegger, and she earned a nod for her portrayal of Joan Baez in A Perfect Stranger, opposite Timothée Chalamet as Bob Dylan.
Since then, she’s clearly become one of Hollywood’s newest darlings, with writers and studios alike clamoring to work with her. She appeared in Bart Layton’s heist film Crime 101 on Prime Video earlier this year, and she’ll star in the romantic comedy Just for a Night on August 12. She’s also set to lead in Luca Guadagnino’s controversial Artificial, opposite Andrew Garfield (her real-life partner). At this point, it’s not clear who she might play in the Ocean’s Eleven prequel.
This untitled prequel to Ocean’s will chronicle the adventures of Danny and Debbie Ocean’s parents, the characters played by George Clooney and Sandra Bullock. The plot unfolds during the 1962 Monaco Grand Prix, where the couple is plotting a colossal heist. Yes, the production will shoot in the south of France.
Considered Margot Robbie’s one fully confirmed project on the horizon right now, following the success of Wuthering (Hurlevent), which grossed over $241 million worldwide on a budget of $80 million. In keeping with the mindset of perpetual franchise fever, she’s linked to a Pirates of the Caribbean spin-off that’s been in development for years. Cooper, for his part, has kept busy directing. After Maestro, released on Netflix in 2023, his project Is This Thing On? with Will Arnett and Laura Dern underperformed in 2025.
The untitled Ocean’s prequel is slated for a June 23, 2027 release in theaters. It will be interesting to see whether it performs as well as the much-derided Ocean’s Eight in 2018 (roughly $300 million worldwide on a $70 million budget), which did only marginally better than Ocean’s Thirteen in 2007 (about $311 million worldwide on an $85 million budget).
