Moura's casting signals Warner Bros. is building an awards-caliber ensemble for this prequel, with three Oscar-nominated performers (Robbie, Cooper via producing, and Moura) attached to a property that proved profitable across four installments.
Sources say the script has undergone multiple rewrites — Carrie Solomon drafted earlier versions before Cooper took another pass. The fact that filming begins in late July with no official title announced suggests things are moving fast and furious behind the scenes.
Moura earned a best actor Academy Award nomination for 2025's The Secret Agent, won best actor at Cannes Film Festival, and took home the Golden Globe for best actor (drama). Filming begins late July 2026 in Paris before moving to the south of France. June 25, 2027 release date confirmed by Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. is gambling big on this prequel — no George Clooney, no Steven Soderbergh, just Cooper behind the camera and a freshly-minted awards darling as the villain. Bold move. We'll see if it pays off.
Well, well. The Ocean's Eleven franchise is about to get a whole lot more interesting. Wagner Moura is in negotiations to join Margot Robbie and Bradley Cooper in Warner Bros.' untitled Ocean's Eleven prequel, multiple sources tell Celebrity Bytes.
The Brazilian actor — fresh off an Oscar nomination and a Cannes best actor win for his turn in 2025's political thriller The Secret Agent — is closing in on the villain role opposite what promises to be a star-studded heist ensemble. Cooper is directing the project while also starring and producing, pulling double (triple?) duty that echoes Steven Soderbergh's original vision for the franchise. Robbie, meanwhile, is attached as both star and producer via her LuckyChap banner, with Tom Ackerley also handling producing duties.
The film is expected to begin shooting in late July in Paris before relocating to the south of France — a glamorous production schedule that feels right at home for an Ocean's movie. Here's where it gets spicy: this prequel won't feature George Clooney or any of the original crew returning. Instead, we're getting a period piece set against the backdrop of the 1962 Monaco Grand Prix — and Robbie herself dropped the bombshell during a CinemaCon sizzle reel earlier this year.
"Before Danny Ocean ever stepped foot in Vegas, two masterminds taught him everything he knows…his parents," she teased. Sources confirm Robbie and Cooper are playing those very parents. Moura's villain casting places him in prestigious company.
The Ocean's franchise has a history of recruiting heavyweight actors for its antagonists — Andy Garcia famously squared off against Clooney's Danny Ocean in the 2001 original, while Vincent Cassel and Al Pacino played memorable villains in subsequent installments. Now it's Moura's turn to get caught in whatever elaborate scheme Cooper and Robbie are cooking up. The timing of this casting is particularly noteworthy.
Moura has been on an absolute tear through Hollywood since The Secret Agent dominated awards season — he snagged the best actor trophy at Cannes, won the Golden Globe for best actor (drama), and ultimately earned a best actor Academy Award nomination. The movie itself also scored nominations for best picture, best casting, and best international film. That's not just a hot streak; that's an A-list arrival.
Since then, Moura has kept busy with voice work on Lucasfilm's Star Wars animated series Maul: Shadow Lord and is set to appear alongside Greta Lee in the horror thriller The Last House, directed by Louis Leterrier, which Netflix drops August 7. His representation includes WME, Johnson Shapiro, and Brazil's FR Producoes Artisticas. Cooper wrote the most recent script draft, with previous versions handled by Carrie Solomon.
George Clayton Johnson and Jack Golden Russell — who penned the original 1960 Ocean's movie that kicked off everything — are also credited on this new feature. Warner Bros. has slotted a June 25, 2027 release date, giving the production roughly a month to get cameras rolling in Paris. No official title has been announced yet, and character details remain tightly under wraps in those racing pits.
But with this casting news? The heist is officially on.
