The trailer for Ocean’s 8 is here and has us theorizing! Here’s what we’re excited to see from each member of the team.
We were all elated when we heard about Gary Ross’s all-female Ocean’s 13 spin-off (although we should probably stop calling it ‘all-female,’ unless we’re planning to refer to Ocean’s 13 as ‘all-male’), and now we finally have a poster, a release date and a trailer!
Ocean’s 8 will follow Debbie Ocean, Danny Ocean’s estranged sister, as she puts together a heist with 7 other criminals at the Met Gala in New York City. It’ll be released in June 2018, and star just about every female actor you’ve ever admired, in what is looking like the best heist movie ever.
With so many talented women working on this film, here’s what we’re hoping to see from each member of the team:
Sandra Bullock be the best of both worlds
Famous for her perfect mix of badass and hilarious, Sandra Bullock is the perfect choice to play Debbie Ocean, the leader of the perfect heist. But what’s most exciting about her role in this movie is the fact that she might finally get to play a character that’s more than just one thing.
In films like Miss Congeniality and The Heat, Bullock has played tough, badass characters with no time for elegance or glamour. In movies like The Proposal and The Blindside, she’s played more stylish characters, but her appearance was often portrayed as being at the expense of competence. Ocean’s 8 doesn’t have the same reservations; we see Bullock wearing everything from a prison uniform to a fur coat, but always looking clever and in control of the situation.
Before now, Bullock has always been hilarious, but she’s had to choose between being tough and being sophisticated. Finally, we might get a chance to see her be both.
Cate Blanchett terrify people
While Danny Ocean had Rusty Ryan as his right hand, Brad Pitt’s character would probably quell in terror under Debbie Ocean’s right hand’s gaze. Cate Blanchett’s character looks not only beautiful and fashionable, but also unquestioningly deadly.
With Blanchett’s powerful voice and talented acting, it’s not rare to see her play villains or mysterious magical characters, but Ocean’s 8 will finally have her as a hero in what will probably be a relatively light-hearted movie. She’ll be playing someone very different from Thor: Ragnarok’s Hela, but anyone who gets in her way in the heist will probably be just as scared as if they had met the goddess of death.
Mindy Kaling be a part of the action
We’re all already waiting to see Mindy Kaling in next year’s A Wrinkle in Time, so by the time Ocean’s 8 arrives we’ll only be more excited. But up to now, we haven’t seen much of Kaling in fast-paced films. While she’s a pillar of comedy, especially on TV, she hasn’t really ventured significantly into action/adventure movies, until A Wrinkle in Time and Ocean’s 8.
Hopefully Ocean’s 8 will give her a chance to be a part of the heist in more ways than just by making the jewelry — although that promises to be interesting too. It would be cool for her be a part of a fast-paced montage, crawling through tunnels, threatening people with guns, having silent-but-deadly battles behind the scenes of the gala. While we love Kaling for her comedy, it’s also going to be exciting to see her play up her fierceness in a different way.
Rihanna show off her wit
Everybody knows that Rihanna is hilarious. From sassy retorts to pushy paparazzi, to her liberal use of memes about herself, we’ve always wanted to see her show off her comedy skills in a good movie. And there’s no better way for her to do so than in a movie as great as Ocean’s 8 promises to be.
In the movie, she’ll star as Nine Ball, and it looks like we’ll finally get a chance to see her play a funny character that isn’t a performer. There’s no doubt that the movie will be filled with deadpan jokes and sharp wit thanks to her.
Awkwafina rise to fame
Among the stars of Ocean’s 8, Awkwafina is the only one that is a relative newcomer. While she’s known for her music and has some amazing projects lined up for the next year — such as Crazy Rich Asians — this will be her most high-profile acting job so far.
But as any quick search on YouTube will tell you, Awkwafina has a great personality and an even greater sense of humor, and she’ll make a great addition to the spectacular Ocean’s 8 team. And maybe we’ll get a chance to hear her music in the movie!
Helena Bonham Carter go undercover
Remember the time Helena Bonham Carter pretended to be Hermione pretending to be Bellatrix? From what little we could see in the trailer, it seems that this time she’ll be playing an anxious clothes designer that joins the team for the heist. And what better way to show off her amazing act-within-an-act, than to have her don an undercover persona?
It would be great to see her nervous character have to pretend to be someone she isn’t, and blow all the others away. It’s not often we get to see Bonham Carter in mainstream comedy, so hopefully Ocean’s 8 will both give her sense of humor a chance to shine, and take advantage of her acting skills.
Sarah Paulson be a badass mom
A fascinating part of Ocean’s 8 will be seeing how motherhood is approached. While movies starring men somehow find it easy to separate their male characters from the family home, that’s rarer in a society that pressures women towards motherhood (while freeing men from parental responsibility).
From the trailer, we’ve seen that Paulson’s character is juggling her family life with her life of crime. It’ll probably be both funny and awesome to see someone like her — whose characters so often come across as soft-spoken and maybe even meek, until they’re ultimately pushed to become ruthless — show her fierce side, and still come back to her kids victorious at the end of the day.
Anne Hathaway be funny in a different way
Hathaway has done many comedy films before, but the jokes usually center on her character’s awkwardness. As the lead, she usually plays a down-to-earth character that finds herself caught up in complicated situations. With Ocean’s 8, however, she might have a very different story.
The film seems to center mostly on Bullock’s character, and that ironically might give Hathaway’s comedy a chance to shine more. She doesn’t always get a chance to be witty just for the sake of it, and from what we’ve seen in the trailers, she might be at the very center of the heist, looking like the perfect femme fatale. It’ll be great to see her talent appreciated from a different angle than it usually is.
Ocean’s 8 promises to be a fun, fast-paced movie with some of our favorite actors, and it’ll hopefully open up heist movies to more female stars. But whether or not the film mutates into a series of movies, from what little we’ve seen in the trailer, it’s definitely going to be a great beginning.
Ocean’s 8 hits theaters on June 8, 2018.