Upcoming Ocean's prequel with WB is eyeing Oscar nominee and Twisters filmmaker Lee Isaac Chung

The Ocean's franchise has been going on for several decades since the 1960s. In 2001, Steven Soderbergh helmed its reboot, and it was followed by a set of sequels. Now, the latest report suggests that a prequel to the story is currently in the works with Warner Bros. Pictures.

The studio is planning to hire Lee Isaac Chung, the Academy Award-nominated director of films like Minari and last year's disaster flick Twisters, for the franchise prequel. Chung's track record makes him an obvious choice for the heist comedy franchise that has seen several installments.

Let us look into the details of this new development around the franchise.

Lee Isaac Chung might direct the Ocean's prequel

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Deadline has recently reported that Warner Bros. Pictures has approached Lee Isaac Chung to direct an Ocean's prequel. The film will be produced by LuckyChap while the screenplay is written by Carrie Solomon. There are reports that Ryan Gosling and Margot Robbie might star in the lead roles.

The franchise started in 1960 with Ocean's 11, which was produced and directed by Lewis Milestone. The film starred Frank Sinatra, Peter Lawford, Dean Martin, and Sammy Davis Jr. It focuses on a gangster named Danny Ocean who teams up with several people to orchestrate a robbery of three casinos in Las Vegas during a boxing match.

Steven Soderbergh revived the franchise in 2001 with the namesake film Ocean's Eleven. It starred Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Matt Damon, Julia Roberts, and Andy Garcia. The film was a commercial success and was followed by two installments that were released in 2004 and 2007. In 2018, an all-female version of the story titled Ocean's 8 was released. It had Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett, Anne Hathaway, Mindy Kaling, Sarah Paulson, Rihanna, and Awkwafina.

Chung made his directorial debut in 2007 with the drama film Munyurangabo, which was the first feature in Rwanda's Kinyarwanda language. The film was selected for the Cannes Film Festival. This was followed by 2010's Lucky Life and 2012's Abigail Harm.

In 2020, Chung directed Minari, which was partly based on his own experiences of growing up in America as a South Korean immigrant. Chung received the Best Director nomination at the Academy Awards. The film was also nominated in the Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Original Screenplay, Best Supporting Actress, and Best Original Score.

Chung's recent directorial venture has been the 2024 disaster film Twisters, which is a standalone sequel to the 1996 film. It grossed $372.3 million at the box office.