Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling’s Ocean’s 11 prequel movie looks to revive the popular franchise, but it must break a 22-year box office curse in the process. Warner Bros. is betting big on the star power of Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling again as they are headlining the fifth movie in the modern Ocean’s franchise. After completing Steven Soderbergh’s trilogy and attempting an all-female spinoff, the movies are going back in the timeline to a heist set long before Ocean’s 11. It is an understandable bet to make for Warner Bros. considering the franchise has made over $1.4 billion at the box office.
The overall success of the Ocean’s movies at the box office would seemingly indicate that an Ocean’s 11 prequel starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling would also be a massive box office hit. However, that is easier said than done. Robbie and Gosling have both had box office hits in the past, but that has not always translated to successful sequels and franchise installments. They are not the reason that the new Ocean’s movie is a gamble for Warner Bros. Instead, the popular stars could be the key to helping break a franchise curse.
New Ocean’s Movies Have Always Made Less At The Box Office Than Before
The sad truth of the Ocean’s movies at the box office is that each installment has always made less than the previous entry. This curse began with the rebooted Ocean’s 11 released in 2001. It made $450.7 million worldwide and became a massive success, which validated George Clooney’s Ocean’s salary. The incredible box office performance of Ocean’s 11 prompted WB to greenlight a sequel with Soderbergh and the entire cast returning. There is always an expectation that a sequel will make more than the previous movie, but Ocean’s 12 made almost $100M less than Ocean’s 11, finishing with a $362.9M box office total.
Unfortunately for the Ocean’s franchise, Ocean’s 13 could not break this trend. Its theatrical run ended with a box office total of $311.7M, making it the lowest in the trilogy. Warner Bros. waited 11 years to bring the franchise back with Ocean’s 8 and once again had hopes that the star-studded female cast would end the curse. Ocean’s 8‘s box office came just short of achieving that goal as it made $297.7M worldwide. This now puts even more pressure on Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling’s Ocean’s 11 prequel movie to not finish as the lowest-grossing entry in the franchise and avoid continuing the box office misery.
Margot Robbie & Ryan Gosling Can Help Ocean’s Break Its Box Office Curse
The new Ocean’s movie should have a reasonable chance of breaking the franchise curse thanks to Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling’s involvement. By the time the Ocean’s 11 prequel releases, audiences will still be relatively fresh off seeing the duo collaborate in Barbie to great success. Barbie‘s $1.4 billion box office could help make audiences even more excited to see Robbie and Gosling share the screen again, even if it is not as Barbie and Ken. The Ocean’s 11 prequel only needs to make a fraction of Barbie‘s total to surpass Ocean’s 8 and bring an end to the franchise’s 22-year box office curse.
