Now, via Deadline, there is news that Cooper may also re-write and direct the new movie, in addition to his acting duties.
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The news comes on the heels of ‘Twisters’ director Lee Isaac Chung stepped away from the movie, citing creative differences with the studio and star/producer Robbie.
Yet Deadline also cautions that Cooper has signed no deals yet, so all this is still up in the air.
The cast of 2001’s ‘Ocean’s Eleven’. Photo: Warner Bros. Pictures.
The script remains a secret, though previous stories hinted that it’ll be set in 1962, and focus on a pair of thieves who target expensive earrings during a mansion event followed by a plot to steal precious diamond in Monte Carlo.
Seeking payback after something goes wrong, they recruit a team to sabotage his Monaco Grand Prix victory and swipe the gem. And, if the connection to the ‘Ocean’s franchise holds true, they might just be the parents of Danny Ocean, as played by George Clooney in the main movies.
Carrie Solomon wrote the most recent draft of the screenplay, but Cooper, assuming he does actually end up working on the movie, may start afresh.
When will the ‘Ocean’s’ prequel movie be on screens?
We’ve yet to learn when the film will land in cinemas, and Deadline’s story mentions an attempt to have it shooting before the end of this year, so 2027 is still possible.
Margot Robbie at the Los Angeles World Premiere of ‘Wuthering Heights’. Photo Credit: David Jon Photography.
In honor of her new film ‘Wuthering Heights‘, which also stars Jacob Elordi and opens in theaters on February 13th, Moviefone is counting down the 20 best movies of Margot Robbie’s career, including her latest.
From DC Comics comes the Suicide Squad, an antihero team of incarcerated supervillains who act as deniable assets for the United States government, undertaking high-risk black ops missions in exchange for commuted prison sentences.
Sarah (Robbie) and David (Colin Farrell) are single strangers who meet at a mutual friend’s wedding and soon, through a surprising twist of fate, find themselves on a funny, fantastical, sweeping adventure together where they get to re-live important moments from their respective pasts, illuminating how they got to where they are in the present… and possibly getting a chance to alter their futures.
In 1561, Mary Stuart (Saoirse Ronan), widow of the King of France, returns to Scotland, reclaims her rightful throne and menaces the future of Queen Elizabeth I (Robbie) as ruler of England, because she has a legitimate claim to the English throne. Betrayals, rebellions, conspiracies and their own life choices imperil both Queens. They experience the bitter cost of power, until their tragic fate is finally fulfilled.
In 2002, cable news producer Kim Barker (Tina Fey) decides to shake up her routine by taking a daring new assignment in Kabul, Afghanistan. Dislodged from her comfortable American lifestyle, Barker finds herself in the middle of an out-of-control war zone. Luckily, she meets Tanya Vanderpoel (Robbie), a fellow journalist who takes the shell-shocked reporter under her wing. Amid the militants, warlords and nighttime partying, Barker discovers the key to becoming a successful correspondent.
The behind the scenes story of the life of A.A. Milne (Domhnall Gleeson) and the creation of the Winnie the Pooh stories inspired by his son Christopher Robin (Stanley Hamlin).
(L to R) Christian Bale, Margot Robbie and John David Washington in director David O. Russell’s ‘Amsterdam.’ Photo courtesy of Walt Disney Studios.
In the 1930s, three friends—a doctor (Christian Bale), a nurse (Robbie), and an attorney—witness (John David Washington) a murder, become suspects themselves and uncover one of the most outrageous plots in American history.
The itinerary of a Junior Stargazer/Space Cadet convention (organized to bring together students and parents from across the country for fellowship and scholarly competition) is spectacularly disrupted by world-changing events.
Tarzan (Alexander Skarsgård), having acclimated to life in London, is called back to his former home in the jungle to investigate the activities at a mining encampment.
From Damien Chazelle, ‘Babylon’ is an original epic set in 1920s Los Angeles and tells the tale of outsized ambition and outrageous excess, it traces the rise and fall of multiple characters during an era of unbridled decadence and depravity in early Hollywood.
The night after another unsatisfactory New Year’s party, Tim’s father (Bill Nighy) tells his son (Domhnall Gleeson) that the men in his family have always had the ability to travel through time. They can’t change history, but they can change what happens and has happened in their own lives. Thus begins the start of a lesson in learning to appreciate life itself as it is, as it comes, and most importantly, the people living alongside us.
Harley Quinn (Robbie) joins forces with a singer (June Smollett), an assassin (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) and a police detective (Rosie Perez) to help a young girl (Ella Jay Basco) who had a hit placed on her after she stole a rare diamond from a crime lord.
Nicky (Will Smith), an accomplished con artist, gets romantically involved with his disciple Jess (Robbie) but later ends their relationship. Years later, she returns as a femme fatale to spoil his plans.
Bombshell is a revealing look inside the most powerful and controversial media empire of all time; and the explosive story of the women (Charlize Theron, Nicole Kidman and Robbie) who brought down the infamous man (John Lithgow) who created it.
(L to R) Margot Robbie, Daniela Melchior, Idris Elba, Sylvester Stallone, and David Dastmalchian in ‘The Suicide Squad’
Welcome to Belle Reve, the prison where the worst Super-Villains are kept and where they will do anything to get out, even join the super-secret Task Force X. Today’s assignment? Assemble a collection of cons, including Bloodsport (Idris Elba), Peacemaker (John Cena), Ratcatcher 2 (Daniela Melchior), King Shark (Sylvester Stallone), and everyone’s favorite psycho, Harley Quinn (Robbie).
Now arm them heavily and drop them on the enemy-infused island of Corto Maltese. Trekking through a jungle teeming with militant adversaries and guerrilla forces at every turn, the Squad is on a search-and-destroy mission with only Colonel Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman) on the ground to make them behave, and Amanda Waller’s (Viola Davis) government techies in their ears, tracking their every movement.
Competitive ice skater Tonya Harding (Robbie) rises amongst the ranks at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, but her future in the sport is thrown into doubt when her ex-husband intervenes (Sebastian Stan).
A New York stockbroker (Leonardo DiCaprio) refuses to cooperate in a large securities fraud case involving corruption on Wall Street, corporate banking world and mob infiltration.
Los Angeles, 1969. TV star Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio), a struggling actor specializing in westerns, and stuntman Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt), his best friend, try to survive in a constantly changing movie industry. Dalton is the neighbor of the young and promising actress and model Sharon Tate (Robbie), who has just married the prestigious Polish director Roman Polanski (Rafał Zawierucha).
(L to R) Jacob Elordi as Heathcliff and Actor, Producer Margot Robbie as Catherine Earnshaw in ‘Wuthering Heights’, a Warner Bros. Pictures Release. Photo Credit: Photo Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures.
Inspired by Emily Brontë’s classic 1847 novel (thus the quotation marks around the title in the credits and marketing), Emerald Fennell’s ‘Wuthering Heights’ is not your mother’s well-read copy of the book. It’s not Laurence Olivier and William Wyler’s relatively faithful 1939 ‘Wuthering Heights’ either. Instead, it’s what you might call a remix of the Brontë tale, streamlined to focus almost exclusively on the relationship between Catherine ‘Cathy’ Earnshaw (Margot Robbie) and the enigmatic Heathcliff (Jacob Elordi), while stripping out much of the novel’s later narrative and ramping up the eroticism.
Maybe surprisingly, it works. Fennell (‘Promising Young Woman,’‘Saltburn’) has concocted a rich, full-bodied, almost classic film with gorgeous, windswept settings, an immersive atmosphere, and a chemistry between its two leads that practically fogs up the screen. No, it’s not particularly slavish to the text, but it’s a sweeping, epic tale of love, lust, vengeance, and forgiveness that crackles with passion and sexual energy.
When Catherine ‘Cathy’ Earnshaw is a little girl, her father – who fancies himself a generous man but is actually a gambling and alcohol addict with an abusive temper — takes in a street urchin named Heathcliff who becomes Cathy’s best friend and, in time, hopelessly devoted to her. Cathy and Heathcliff are seemingly bonded for life, much to the consternation of serving girl Nelly, who may have her own repressed feelings for Cathy.
As they grow older, Mr. Earnshaw becomes more dissolute and their estate – Wuthering Heights – falls further into disrepair. But while Heathcliff remains steadfastly true to Cathy, she has her eye on marrying the wealthy new neighbor, Edgar Linton, at the estate next door. When Heathcliff overhears her saying that she would ‘degrade’ herself by marrying her poor friend – despite the fact that she loves him dearly – he departs Wuthering Heights and doesn’t return for five years, during which time he makes his own fortune – and Cathy, although still desperately in love with Heathcliff, does in fact marry Linton.
Thus begins an escalating series of events as Cathy and Heathcliff first deny then ultimately give into their true passion, until their affair threatens to smash their lives and that of those around them to pieces. That’s when love and desire curdle into cruelty and psychological abuse, even as the illicit couple’s romance takes on epic, tragic proportions.
In adapting the novel, Fennell combines or discards characters, and leaves an entire generation of Lintons and Earnshaws off the playing field. In doing so, she shifts the focus from generational trauma squarely onto Cathy, Heathcliff, and their feelings for each other that are painfully romantic, bursting with unrestrained ardor, yet also torturously destructive. Through her exceptional lead actors and Fennell’s own grasp of how yearning can be physically and emotionally consuming, Cathy and Heathcliff’s desire practically oozes off the screen.
This probably wouldn’t be an Emerald Fennell film if she didn’t also make a little more explicit what could only be implicit in 1847. While there’s barely a glimpse of naked skin to be seen – which somehow makes it more erotic – multiple characters in the film indulge in the pleasures of the flesh and a bit more. In a relationship that blooms (if that’s the word) between two characters later in the film (fans of the book will know who we mean), some BDSM comes into play that adds a bit of unbridled perversity to the proceedings.
After following ‘Barbie’ with the misbegotten ‘A Big Bold Beautiful Journey,’ Margot Robbie bounces back here with the kind of screen-filling, brave performance that she became known for early on. Her Cathy is irritating, self-pitying, calculating, and class-obsessed, yet also passionate, kind, loving, lustful, and heartbreaking – with Robbie delivering it all in a masterful balance of conflicting emotions and characteristics that make us feel every inch of Cathy’s titanic regret and desire.
Jacob Elordi’s Heathcliff comes hard on the heels of his magnificent portrayal of the creature in ‘Frankenstein’ and is another triumph for this quickly developing actor. As with Robbie’s Cathy, Heathcliff is a man who contains multitudes: he’s feral, brutish, cunning, and capable of great cruelty, yet also charming, vulnerable, and aching with love, loss, and untold suffering. Elordi gives him not just an imposing physical presence, but a powerful emotional one as well, making this enigmatic character both alluring and frightening.
As for the rest of the main cast, Hong Chau is her usual magnificent self as Nelly, although the character’s often obscured motivations come across as murkier on the screen. But her own pain and sadness are evident throughout. Alison Oliver is an eerie Isabella, but Shazad Latif gets a bit of the short end of the stick as Linton, who never quite becomes much more than an emotional punching bag for the leads.
With Linus Sandgren’s breathtaking cinematography – which soars, climbs, and gallops through beautifully desolate, foggy, and craggy locations in Yorkshire — Anthony Willis’ haunting score, and even the needle drops from Charli XcX (which sound anachronistic on paper but work here) all adding texture and immersion to the proceedings, Emerald Fennell and her cast have devised a truly towering romance in ‘Wuthering Heights.’
Purists may grumble about certain aspects, but this is an adaptation based on a particular vision – a vision that adds a modern edge to a book that, while still universal in its themes, is now nearly two centuries old. Even if you don’t care personally for this extravagant, extraordinary film, it may introduce new generations to the source text – making Cathy and Heathcliff immortal all over again.
‘Wuthering Heights’ receives a score of 90 out of 100.
‘Wuthering Heights’ opens in theaters on February 13th.
What is the plot of ‘Wuthering Heights’?
In a crumbling estate on the West Yorkshire Moors, status-minded Catherine ‘Cathy’ Earnshaw and the mysterious Heathcliff pursue their tormented, passionate love for each other across the years, while wreaking havoc on both the Earnshaw family and their neighbors, the Lintons.
Margot Robbie is already aboard to star and produce.
Lee Isaac Chung will call the shots.
Looks like the tide is truly turning on the ‘Ocean’s movies. Though perhaps given the true themes of the franchise, it should be the odds are switching in their favor.
But just a few days after George Clooney offered a positive update on the status of the latest main entry, ‘Ocean’s Fourteen’, comes an update on the prequel movie set in the same cinematic universe.
The cast of 2001’s ‘Ocean’s Eleven’. Photo: Warner Bros. Pictures.
The script remains a secret, though previous stories hinted that it’ll be set in 1962, and focus on a pair of thieves who target expensive earrings during a mansion event followed by a plot to steal precious diamond in Monte Carlo.
Seeking payback after something goes wrong, they recruit a team to sabotage his Monaco Grand Prix victory and swipe the gem. And, if the connection to the ‘Ocean’s franchise holds true, they might just be the parents of Danny Ocean, as played by Clooney in the main movies.
This marks a change in casting terms –– for a while, it looked like the movie would be a ‘Barbie’ reunion for Robbie and Ryan Gosling, but Gosling has since dropped out of talks. Go back to your mojo dojo casa house, Ken!
Cooper, meanwhile, has wanted to work with Robbie for a while now, and finally seems to be getting the opportunity. He enthused about his future co-star’s worth ethic to Variety:
Cooper’s latest directorial effort, comedy drama ‘Is This Thing On?’ recently premiered at the New York Film Festival.
The movie, inspired by the life of British comedian John Bishop, stars Will Arnett and Laura Dern, with Cooper taking a supporting role.
When will the ‘Ocean’s’ prequel movie be on screens?
We’ve yet to learn when this one will land in cinemas, but the Cooper development suggests it’ll be shooting next year, so 2027 is a likely release year.
(L to R) Rebecca Miller and Martin Scorsese in ‘Mr. Scorsese,’ premiering October 17, 2025 on Apple TV+.
Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with director Rebecca Miller about her work on ‘Mr. Scorsese’, how she got involved in the project, interviewing Martin Scorsese, his working relationship Robert De Niro, Leonardo DiCaprio and editor Thelma Schoonmaker, which interview surprised her the most, pacing the series over five episodes, what Scorsese had to say about ‘Taxi Driver’, and what she hopes people take away from watching the series.
You can read the full interview below or click on the video player above to watch our interview.
Moviefone: To begin with, can you talk about how you got involved with this project and when conducting the interviews with Martin Scorsese, what was it like essentially directing the greatest director of all time?
Rebecca Miller: Well, I got involved with it really by a formless hunch, a feeling. I had made another documentary, Damon Cardasis my producing partner said, “What would you like to do?” Because I said I’d like to make another one. He said, “What’s the subject?” I thought of Martin Scorsese first. You know, he made it so easy in a way to interview him. He almost makes fun of himself in the very beginning of the series where he’s making jokes about, “You need a slate” and stuff like that. But really, he was just so open, I think, is the word. Just very open. I wasn’t really directing him so much as just listening to him, you know, and then asking the next question. We led each other into some very unexpected places.
(L to R) Archival photo of Leonardo DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese on the set of “The Aviator” featured in ‘Mr. Scorsese,’ premiering October 17, 2025 on Apple TV+.
MF: Mr. Scorsese has had many great collaborators over the years, but the three that stick out from the documentary were Robert De Niro, Leonardo DiCaprio, and editor Thelma Schoonmaker. Can you talk about interviewing them and is there a through line between their collaborations that you can put your finger on?
RM: The first word that comes to mind is trust. In fact, he mentions that with regards to them. You know, he knew that De Niro, even though he was becoming a star after ‘Mean Streets’, he could trust him. That he wasn’t going to abandon him or allow anyone to take the work away from him, because that was still a possibility from Marty at that time. With Thelma, he knew that he could trust her to help him make the work that he needed to make and not be obstructionist or egotistical about it. The same thing with, I think with Leonardo, because that’s what Marty needs is to be able to trust people that he’s collaborating with. Then once that trust is there, you’re free to experiment and to really be wild because you trust each other.
(L to R) Archival photo of Martin Scorsese and Thelma Schoonmaker featured in ‘Mr. Scorsese,’ premiering October 17, 2025 on Apple TV+.
MF: Of all the interviews you did with Mr. Scorsese’s friends, family and colleagues, was there one interview that really surprised you and was there anyone you wanted to speak with but were unable to?
RM: I got to talk to so many people, and people that I never expected to be able to speak to. His childhood friends were like a particular boon, it was just so amazing that I got to talk to them, especially because one of them died shortly after I interviewed him. But also, the model for Johnny Boy (from ‘Mean Streets’), you know, this was a once in a lifetime opportunity. I didn’t even know that I would necessarily have them.
(L to R) Robert De Niro, Frank “Butch” Piccirillo and Martin Scorsese in ‘Mr. Scorsese,’ premiering October 17, 2025 on Apple TV+.
MF: Can you talk about pacing and the challenge of fitting in all aspects of Mr. Scorsese’s life and career into just five episodes?
RM: I mean, I didn’t want to rush, but on the other hand, I really wanted there to be a sense of pacing and of urgency, because his work has that, and his personality has that. I wanted it to reflect his personality. I wanted the film to feel like Marty himself. Maybe that’s why sometimes there are certain cuts that feel like his cuts, because they’re originating with him and his personality. Then, of course, his work is an outgrowth of his personality. But you know, the number of segments really, at first it was going to be one feature film. Then I quite quickly realized there was no way I could do it that way, because the childhood and early adulthood really needed time, so you could understand how deeply connected his work in general is to those early years. Once you do that, once you spend that first episode, then you need more time to get to the rest of it. Because essentially, the series is really the dance between the art and the life. They’re creating each other. Art’s creating life, life’s creating art, and at a certain point, we kind of ran out of life in a way. That’s the point where you’re like, “Okay, that’s the end”. So, it’s the dance between those two things.
Archival photo of Martin Scorsese on the set of ‘Gangs of New York’ featured in ‘Mr. Scorsese,’ premiering October 17, 2025 on Apple TV+.
MF: Was there any movie that you asked Mr. Scorsese about where you were surprised by his answer?
RM: Well, I mean, I was very intrigued by his answers to ‘Taxi Driver’. I talked to him about it. I asked, “What is it about you at that time that’s in that film?” And you can see him close his eyes and sort of be resistant, but also want to give an answer. He gives this extraordinary answer but over throughout, there’s this thread of the deep connection between what he’s going through as a person, his own suffering, his obsessions, and the films that he’s making.
Archival photo of Martin Scorsese on the set of ‘The Departed’ featured in ‘Mr. Scorsese,’ premiering October 17, 2025 on Apple TV+.
MF: In the series, Mr. Scorsese talks says that in the stories he tells, the human struggle is what he is most interested in? Can you talk about his passion for that idea in terms of his filmography?
RM: I think overall, there’s a sort of sense of, as Nicholas Pileggi says, “Underdogs trying to score”, and very often, these people are struggling to become themselves. It’s like they want to become themselves, but in that process of trying to become themselves, like Jake LaMotta (in ‘Raging Bull’), for example, you can lose your soul, and that’s interesting too. The loss of the self, the loss of the soul, the kind of darkness that can come into sight of people. It’s not always good news in Scorsese’s universe.
Martin Scorsese in ‘Mr. Scorsese,’ premiering October 17, 2025 on Apple TV+.
MF: Finally, what will you remember most about making this series and what do you hope fans learn about Mr. Scorsese and his work that they did not already know?
RM: I mean, just having him in my life and the friendship that I have with him is such an immense reward. The idea that I was able to maybe give him back to the people that love him in a form that they didn’t know or anticipate, and to shed something new on the films and maybe bring people back to the films or to the films when they haven’t seen them, that to me is a great reward.
Martin Scorsese in ‘Mr. Scorsese,’ premiering October 17, 2025 on Apple TV+.
What is the story of ‘Mr. Scorsese’?
Explore the many lives of Martin Scorsese through intimate interviews with the man himself, access to his private archives, plus conversations with Robert De Niro, Leonardo DiCaprio, Margot Robbie, Daniel Day-Lewis, Steven Spielberg, and more.
Filmmaker Kogonada’s first two films, ‘Columbus’ (2017) and ‘After Yang’ (2021) were, respectively, an unconventionally low-key romance built around architecture and a melancholic meditation on what it means to be human in a high-tech society. ‘A Big Bold Beautiful Journey,’ his third feature and first production for a major Hollywood studio (Sony), attempts to combine whimsy and fantasy with themes of love, regret, and loss, only on a much bigger canvas.
But despite the presence of two of our most charismatic actors, Margot Robbie and Colin Farrell, the visually lovely film is let down by a treacly, frequently dull script (by Seth Reiss) that trades real emotions and characters for pre-programmed mannequins and faux sentimentality. It’s one of those movies that reveals all in its trailer (which has been playing for months) and offers nothing beyond its superficial gloss.
Robbie and Farrell play Sarah and David, two people who meet at a mutual friend’s wedding and strike up an immediate attraction, despite both attempting to wave it off (“I’m afraid of hating you,” says Sarah) and insisting they’re not in the market, despite clearly being two lonely, somewhat lost people. What neither knows is that they both rented cars for the occasion from the same mysterious agency, located in a vast warehouse in a narrow alley in the nameless city in which they both live.
The film slides into the fantastical from the start with David’s visit to the agency, where he’s served by a foul-mouthed, German-accented, overly enthusiastic cashier (Phoebe Waller-Bridge) and the more elderly, gruff mechanic (Kevin Kline), who rent him a long-discontinued 1994 Saturn SL with a special GPS that offers to take him – and Sarah – on the title trip, which they end up taking together after Sarah’s vehicle breaks down.
That trip takes David and Sarah to a series of doors in unusual places (like the middle of a forest), with each door leading to a moment in one or the other’s past that has defined their attitude toward life and love. In other words, the film offers up the kind of cheap Hollywood excuse for therapy and self-reflection which claims that if you can go back and confront that one thing that’s been hanging you up your whole life, everything else will sort itself out. Not only is that not true, but each major moment in both Sarah and David’s lives is the kind of trite cliché we’ve seen before: getting one last moment with a deceased parent, confronting a lost love, and so on.
The problem is that we don’t really know anything about either Sarah or David from the start, so they simply feel like automatons going through the motions as they take 109 minutes to arrive at the predetermined outcome of their journey. There’s no real emotion at play here, and no real chemistry either between the stars. When one finally confesses their love for the other, it seems almost comical – they literally just met a day or two before.
Kogonada has a great eye, and he and cinematographer Benjamin Loeb shoot the hell out of ‘A Big Bold Beautiful Journey,’ bathing everything in warm hues and glowing light. But the heart of the movie is hollow, the plot points overly stylized and self-consciously theatrical (Sarah and David actually end up on an empty stage at one point, like they’ve stumbled into a Lars von Trier movie), and the needle drops become increasingly heavy-handed, culminating in ‘Let My Love Open the Door’ playing as someone literally opens a door.
In her first screen role since 2023’s ‘Barbie,’ a luminous Margot Robbie does the best she can with a role that is severely underwritten. Sarah keeps telling David that she’s horrible; she tells her mother that she’s bad with men; and yet we never get any real sense of why that is except for what she tells us. Farrell also looks terrific in the film (Kogonada is certainly kind to his actors) and, like his co-star, tries to wrestle some humanity out of his character, but can only go so far with the barely sketched template he’s got to work from.
The best work in the film undoubtedly comes from Waller-Bridge as the car rental agency’s cashier, who gleefully doles out the word ‘f**k’ like candy (hence the otherwise unnecessary R rating) and injects some real Terry Gilliam-like absurdity into the opening moments of the story. It’s too bad she disappears for most of the rest of it, since more of her and Kevin Kline as her straight man would liven up the proceedings considerably. Except for the two leads, none of the other characters even merit actual names.
Kogonada’s first two films were marked by their intimacy and even dream-like atmosphere, as well as their own visual acumen, but only the latter makes it into ‘A Big Bold Beautiful Journey.’ The story is so predictable and undercooked, the themes so saccharine, and the characters so flat that this movie runs out of gas long before that Saturn SL ever has a chance to.
‘A Big Bold Beautiful Journey’ receives a score of 40 out of 100.
What is the plot of ‘‘A Big Bold Beautiful Journey’’?
Sarah (Margot Robbie) and David (Colin Farrell) are single strangers who meet at a mutual friend’s wedding and soon, through a surprising twist of fate, find themselves on a fantastical adventure together where they get to re-live important moments from their pasts and possibly get a chance to alter their futures.
Who is in the cast of ‘A Big Bold Beautiful Journey’?
Things have been quiet of late –– presumably because the script has proved a tough nut to crack. Still, there is some news to report now, with Deadline bringing word that ‘Twisters’Lee Isaac Chung is in talks to direct the movie.
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Robbie and Gosling are not confirmed for the movie just yet, but if Chung makes a deal, it points to some positive forward movement.
The cast of 2001’s ‘Ocean’s Eleven’. Photo: Warner Bros. Pictures.
Deadline’s report mentions that the script remains secret, though previous stories brought word that it’ll be set in 1962, and focus on a pair of thieves who target expensive earrings during a mansion event followed by a plot to steal precious diamond in Monte Carlo.
Seeking payback after something goes wrong, they recruit a team to sabotage his Monaco Grand Prix victory and swipe the gem.
Carrie Solomon wrote the most recent draft of the screenplay, but there may well have been others involved since then.
The likes of Jay Roach and Molly Rose have been talked up as directors previously, but it would seem Chung is the current choice given the success of ‘Twisters’.
What else is happening in the ‘Ocean’s world?
George Clooney in ‘Ocean’s Eleven’. Photo: Warner Bros. Pictures.
But since those initial stories there has been little update.
Clooney, who is a producer on the ‘Ocean’s franchise in addition to its lead actor, told Uproxx about a development for the future back in 2023:
“We have a really good script for another ‘Ocean’s’ now, so we may end up doing another one. It’s actually a great script. the idea is kind of like ‘Going in Style.’ ”
(Left) Actor/Producer Margot Robbie attends the ‘Barbie’ Press Junket Photo Call at the Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills, CA. Photo by Eric Charbonneau. (Right) Tim Burton attends the world premiere of Netflix’s ‘Wednesday’ on November 16, 2022 in Los Angeles, California. Photo by Jerod Harris/Getty Images for Netflix.
Preview:
Margot Robbie is in early talks for the remake of ‘Attack of the 50ft Woman’.
Burton and studio backers Warner Bros. are in the process of finding a new writer but they have also begun discussions with a potential star: Margot Robbie.
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Robbie, who of course has a solid professional relationship with the studio following the huge success of ‘Barbie’, is reportedly in talks to lead the new movie and produce via her company LuckyChap.
It’s still mostly living in rumor territory for now, but we can certainly see a fun version of the story with a giant Robbie flinging cars around.
1958’s ‘Attack of the 50 Foot Woman.’ Photo: Allied Artists Pictures Corporation.
The 1958 original, written by Mark Hanna and directed by Nathan Hertz, is considered more a pulpy cult classic than a truly great movie (though it does boast one of the most iconic posters of all time).
Allison Hayes stars as Nancy Archer, a wealthy but extremely troubled socialite whose problems include mental health issues, a history with drink and a philandering husband (Harry, played by William Hudson) who would rather spend time with his latest girlfriend than help his wife.
One night, Nancy has an encounter with a strange alien craft and its giant occupant, and the incident leaves her growing to enormous size. Using her newfound stature, she seeks revenge on her cheating other half.
Most impressively, the movie was made for $88,000. We’d guess a new take will have a significantly higher budget.
When will the new ‘Attack of the 50ft Woman’ be in theaters?
With the script still needing fresh drafts and Robbie nowhere near officially attached yet, don’t expect a release date to be forthcoming for a while.
But if you’re in need of Burton content, he’s executive producer (and director or several episodes) for the new season of Netflix’s ‘Wednesday’, which drops this week.
Allison Hayes in 1958’s ‘Attack of the 50 Foot Woman.’ Photo: Allied Artists Pictures Corporation.
Samara Weaving in ‘Borderline’, a Magnet release. Photo courtesy of Magnet Releasing.
‘Borderline’ receives 7 out of 10 stars.
Opening in theaters and on digital on March 14th, ‘Borderline’ represents the latest movie to blend comedy and violent chaos, all drawn from the keyboard of writer Jimmy Warden, who last brought us the loosely-based-on-truth madness that was ‘Cocaine Bear.’
In this case, he’s behind the camera, making his directorial debut with this story of a 1990s pop star whose home is invaded by her self-proclaimed biggest fan –– a stalker with borderline personality disorder who just wants her to love him. She, meanwhile, just wants to survive their latest encounter.
Ray Nicholson in ‘Borderline’, a Magnet release. Photo courtesy of Magnet Releasing.
While Warden’s comedy chops were on full display in ‘Cocaine Bear,’ that film had Elizabeth Banks calling the shots, where ‘Borderline’ is full spectrum Warden, delivered by the writer himself.
And that unfettered pipeline from page to screen means that his brand of chaos is on full display, for both good and ill. For while it’s certainly packing some laughs (and even manages to find nuance in several characters), it can’t always keep things on track.
Script and Direction
Jimmy Warden, writer and director of ‘Borderline’, a Magnet release. Photo courtesy of Magnet Releasing.
Warden’s style has been honed in the last few years working on the likes of the ‘Babysitter’ movies for Netflix and having spent time in the trenches with such talents as Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (he was a production assistant on ‘21 Jump Street’), ‘No One Will Save You’ filmmaker Brian Duffield, who helped get both ‘Cocaine Bear’ and ‘Borderline’ to screens and Margot Robbie, who clearly saw enough in the script to produce via her LuckyChap company.
Let loose, Warden here has cooked up the 1990s-set tale of Paul Duerson (Ray Nicholson), who has been living under the delusion that he’s in a relationship with pop star Sofia (Samara Weaving). We meet Paul, dressed in what he thinks is his best, when he’s making his latest attempt to get access to Sofia’s mansion.
That ends in a bloodbath when he stabs her loyal bodyguard Bell (Eric Dane), but calls both the police and an ambulance, eventually ending up in a mental health institution (while Bell heads to the hospital).
Fast-forward several months and Bell is recovering while Sofia dates emotional basketball player Rhodes (Jimmy Fails), only for a planned night to be rudely interrupted by a freshly-escaped Paul, who has cooked up his grandest scheme yet. With the help of the hulking J.H. and the equally unhinged Penny (Alba Baptista), Paul plan to kidnap Sofia and marry her.
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Warden has clearly thought through all that can go wrong with this schemes, setting things up well and roping in Bell’s family to add to the complications.
Yet tone is sometimes an issue here, the lunatic stalker comedy occasionally grinding up against an attempt to say more about the pressures of fame and the deeper issues that Sofia herself has (she’s not always the easiest person to deal with either).
And as the movie barrels towards its conclusion (which we won’t spoil), there are moments that aim to blend comedy and violence, but don’t completely work, souring the entertainment value.
Still, Warden shows some promise as a director to go with the skills he has as a writer. There’s nothing too diverting about his framing or filming choices, mostly letting the camera help tell the story. He also has a keen ear for some fun and appropriate ‘90s needle drops.
Cast and Performances
Ray Nicholson in ‘Borderline’, a Magnet release. Photo courtesy of Magnet Releasing.
A big part of why ‘Borderline’ works at all is the committed performances from its leads.
Nicholson, who was last seen sporting a terrifying grin as the heroine’s late boyfriend in ‘Smile 2,’ is here throwing himself into the role of slightly greasy, very desperate but ultimately relatable weirdo Paul.
With his stringy moustache and his cringe-worthy fashion choices, he makes for an off-kilter yet compelling stalker figure, a man with clear issues and one whose life is mostly lived in his head.
Samara Weaving in ‘Borderline’, a Magnet release. Photo courtesy of Magnet Releasing.
As Sofia, Weaving brings the right level of spoiled starlet and kooky humanity to the role, and is also –– thanks to her experiences in the likes of ‘Ready or Not’ and ‘Scream VI’ attempt at going the scream queen route when needed, and fighting back at other times.
Eric Dane is handed a solid role as loyal bodyguard Bell; a man weary of having to deal with the likes of Paul but committed to keeping his charge safe with sensitive tough guy grace. This also sees Dane willing to throw himself into the comedy side of things, even while he’s mostly the straight man as the madness unfolds around him.
Elsewhere, Patrick Cox has fun as the giant J.H., someone for whom violence comes easy, but never without regret, and Baptista keeps Penny at just the right level of weird. Fails, meanwhile, steals some scenes as the easily offended sportsman Rhodes.
Final Thoughts
A scene from ‘Borderline’, a Magnet release. Photo courtesy of Magnet Releasing.
‘Borderline’ will appeal to those who appreciated the comic stylings of ‘Cocaine Bear’ and shows some progress for Warden. If it can’t quite stick the landing, it at least has some fun along the way.
What is the plot of ‘Borderline’?
Set in Los Angeles in the 1990s, a pop star’s (Samara Weaving) home is broken in by an obsessive fan (Ray Nicholson) who delusively believes they are getting married and manipulates their surroundings to create a wedding atmosphere.
Who is in the cast of ‘Borderline’?
Samara Weaving as Sofia
Ray Nicholson as Duerson
Eric Dane as Bell
Alba Baptista as Penny
Jimmie Fails as Rhodes
Theatrical one-sheet for ‘Borderline’, a Magnolia Pictures release. Photo courtesy of Magnet Releasing.
There was no casting attached at the time, but now Deadline reports that the new movie will mark a dual reunion for Fennell, as she’s landed Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi for the lead roles.
Robbie and Fennell’s collaboration stretches back to the director’s film debut, 2020’s ‘Promising Young Woman,’ in which Robbie was originally going to star, but stepped aside because she felt Carey Mulligan would be a better choice. That was, as it happens, the right move, with Mulligan earning an Oscar nomination.
Still, Robbie and her LuckyChap company produced the movie, and reunited with Fennell for her next film, ‘Saltburn’ (which starred Elordi as wealthy scion Felix Catton). Fennell also worked with Robbie by appearing in ‘Barbie’.
1939’s ‘Wuthering Heights’. Photo: United Artists.
Brontë’s book, published in 1847 under her pseudonym Ellis Bell, follows Heathcliff (Elordi), an orphan-turned-foster-son who falls in love with the daughter of the family who owns the estate on which he now lives, Wuthering Heights.
After running away, Heathcliff rises up through the ranks of the gentry and exacts revenge on the families — the Earnshaws and the Lintons — who kept him from his true love, Catherine Earnshaw (Robbie).
What previous adaptations of ‘Wuthering Heights’ have there been?
(L to R) Ralph Fiennes and Juliette Binoche in 1992’s ‘Wuthering Heights’. Photo: United Artists.
Upcoming for Elordi is Guillermo del Toro’s ‘Frankenstein’ and a TV series called ‘The Narrow Road to the Deep North,’ directed by Justin Kurzel.
When will Fennell’s ‘Wuthering Heights’ be seen on screens?
The new ‘Wuthering Heights’ is in pre-production and will shoot next year in the UK.
While it has MRC agreeing to stump up the money to produce the film, it has yet to lock down a studio home. Though we can imagine many companies will be happy to snatch this one up given the pedigree of Fennell and Robbie in particular.
