Los Angeles - Arab Today
Pop star Rihanna along with actresses Anne Hathaway and Helena Bonham Carter are in talks to join Sandra Bullock and Cate Blanchett in a female-driven spinoff of the “Ocean’s Eleven” crime caper franchise, Hollywood trade publications reported on Wednesday.
News of the movie comes a month after the release of the all-female remake of the beloved 1980s action comedy “Ghostbusters,” this time starring Melissa McCarthy and Kristen Wiig, that prompted a hate-filled backlash on social media. Production of on the Warner Bros. movie, to be called “Ocean’s Eight,” is expected to start in October, with director Gary Ross, Hollywood websites Deadline and Variety reported.
Ross told movie website SlashFilm in June that the movie would continue the “Ocean’s Eleven” trilogy starring George Clooney and Brad Pitt, as well as having a similar light-hearted tone.
“Ocean’s Eleven,” in which Clooney and accomplices rob three Las Vegas casinos, made some $450 million at the worldwide box office on its 2001 release. “Ocean’s Twelve” and “Ocean’s Thirteen” followed, bringing in another $670 million for Warner Bros.
Actress Mindy Kaling, star of US TV comedy series “The Mindy Project,” is also expected to join the “Ocean’s Eight” cast, along with Asian American rapper Awkwafina.
Ross told SlashFilm in a June interview that the idea for “Ocean’s Eight” had been in the works for years and that director Steven Soderbergh would be a producer on the upcoming film.
Source: Arab News