Director Lee Isaac Chung Exits Margot Robbie’s Led ‘Ocean’s 11’ Prequel!!

Margot Robbie‘s long-gestating Ocean’s Eleven prequel has hit yet more troubled waters at Warner Bros. Last year, the film seemed to be gaining some momentum when Oscar-nominated Twisters helmer Lee Isaac Chung came aboard to direct from the script by Carrie Solomon. Although the film was still in early development, the decision indicated a new artistic direction and overall feel for the stylish heist franchise as it explored its past under Robbie‘s LuckyChap production banner. Now, the team is going back to the drawing board when it comes to the creative team.

Chung has left the project, according to a new report, with a Warner Bros. spokesperson confirming that the split with the filmmaker was an “amicable” one due to “creative differences.” Representatives for both WB and LuckyChap went further in a joint statement praising the director, adding, “Lee Isaac is a singular filmmaking talent whose vision and partnership have been invaluable to Warner Bros. and LuckyChap throughout this journey. Our experience with him has only deepened our enthusiasm to collaborate on future projects together.” The search for a new director is now officially underway, with hopes of getting the Ocean’s franchise back on the big screen sooner rather than later. Finding another mastermind that can add to a legacy built by filmmakers like Lewis Milestone and Steven Soderbergh, however, will remain a tall task.

By all accounts, Chung was a major get for the future, or, in this case, past of Ocean’s. He had successfully proven himself as a filmmaker capable of taking on blockbuster franchises and critical darlings alike, first garnering widespread praise for his 2020 film Minari. It earned him Best Director and Original Screenplay nominations at the Academy Awards, as well as Critics’ Choice and Golden Globe wins, while also scoring Youn Yuh-jung her historic first Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. With Twisters, he managed to revisit the disaster epic Twister with a new cast led by Daisy Edgar-Jones and Glenn Powell and bigger effects to great success, not only earning rave reviews, but raking in $372.2 million at the worldwide box office. He also played around in the Star Wars sandbox a couple of times through episodes of The Mandalorian and Skeleton Crew.

The ‘Ocean’s Eleven’ Remains a High Priority At Paramount and Warner Bros.

Unsurprisingly, details on the prequel movie are being kept well under wraps this early in the process, other than that Robbie will star and produce, and it will still be based on the characters originated by George Clayton Johnson and Jack Golden Russell. Although it’s taken a while to get it off the ground, Warner Bros. is keeping the project a very high priority. Not including the Rat Pack-led original in 1960 that started the cinematic franchise, the star-studded modern trilogy featuring George Clooney, Brad Pitt, and more, as well as the 2018 female-led Ocean’s 8 with, among others, Anne Hathaway and Sandra Bullock, came away with over $1.4 billion at the box office. There hasn’t been a new installment since, and, with Paramount‘s recent purchase of Warner Bros., there’s some urgency to crack the vault open once again. The prequel isn’t all the franchise has cooking, as Ocean’s Fourteen is also aiming to film in October this year, reuniting the old crew under director David Leitch.