"Ocean's Eight" Awaits
Thursday, December 14, 2017 at 9:46PM 
Chris here. While the world is continually bad, one of our sustaining mantras has been the promise of female ensemble heisting with Ocean's 8. The main refrain of this meditation / mindfulness exercise is obviously its stars - say their names with me and feel renewed: Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett, Sarah Paulson, Mindy Kaling, Rihanna, Anne Hathaway, Helena Bonham Carter, and Awkwafina.
Well done.
We've got a new poster and a photo of the assembled crew to distract ourselves, but even this is just a hint of the fun to come (you can expect a trailer to come very soon, impatient readers). Bullock will be playing Danny Ocean's equally conning sister Debbie, so the opportunity remains for some fun crossover with Steven Soderbergh's trilogy. The film's big heist will take place during the Met Gala and juicy cameos should be expected. Ocean's 12 already made a "Julia Roberts pretending to be Julia Roberts" gag, but it would be amusing to revamp the bit here. Rihanna is queen of the Met Gala, after all.
But our new looks are decidedly less fussy than that red carpet extravaganza, with the poster giving us coats and shades mystique and the image below has the team mid-planning. What is Debbie Ocean's octad looking at in their projector? The endless news cycle? Something from the screener pile? The trailer they're keeping from us? Hmmmm.
Reader Comments (18)
I hate that this is directed by a man. But, Gary Ross has had a decent track record of positive female characters.
You make all the excuses for him you like, Ben.
I personally found him an inappropriate choice to direct Seabiscuit because he's not a horse. And I found his Lassie screenplay offensive because he ain't no dog either. This man should be hounded out of Hollywood.
Met Gala is an inspired choice for the setting. The Costume!
my ocd goes into overdrive when the names don’t match the actors
They had to push the minorities to be the lowest.
I like the concept of the post, but not the execution. If I didn't know each actress that was in the movie I'd probably be unable to recognise any of them except Sandra.
I feel like Sandra Bullock is the only one who would actually deserve to be one of the main crew in the Clooney/Pitt/Damon/Roberts films, just based on pure iconic movie star status. Cate's a great actress and pretty famous, but I've never considered her a huge, iconic movie star or anything. Hathaway could have been an iconic movie star, but I think she deliberately rejected the "next Julia Roberts" tag to have a more eclectic career and be taken seriously.
Bullock and the "Oceans" brand will have to do a lot of heavy lifting at the box office.
This is gonna replenish my gay electrolytes like Gatorade.
I love this tagline. How has it never been used before?!
It's really jarring to get to the end of a list of names and find "Awkwafina". How long do we think that will stick?
Wow! What a cool looking poster!
Bullock
Blanchett
Hathaway
Bonham Carter
Rihanna
Paulson
Kaling
Awkwafina
Do we agree with this ranking (in terms of attracting the general public?)
I'd move Rihanna before Hathaway, but otherwise it's a yes...
To grab MY attention (personally)?
Blanchett
Rihanna
Paulson
Bonham Carter
Bullock
Awkwafina
Kaling
Hathaway
Mindy Kaling, Rihanna, and Awkwafina are my main draws for this movie.
I haven't seen the original, but the remake and its sequels are not outstanding movies.
I'm surprised Helena Bonham Carter is credited above Rihanna, especially, and maybe Mindy Kahling and Sarah Paulson, too. I know she has a couple of Oscar nods, but she doesn't seem as relevant in 2017 (she's the only one I didn't immediately recognize in that photo).
I love the idea of Sandra Bullock being Julia Roberts' sister-in-law and both pretending to like each other at family reunions.
Anne Hathaway is playing a famous actress in the movie isn't she? She's probably the one involved in the Met Gala, she could even be playing herself in that meta Julia Roberts in 12 way or something.
this is an amazing cast, how are there people doubting it?