Warner Bros. has its villain. Wagner Moura is in negotiations to join the Ocean's prequel opposite Margot Robbie and Bradley Cooper, according to Deadline and Variety.
The film is set at the 1962 Monaco Grand Prix and follows Danny Ocean's parents. Bradley Cooper is directing and co-starring. He also wrote the screenplay, adapting characters originally created by George Clayton Johnson and Jack Golden Russell. Robbie's LuckyChap company, led by Tom Ackerley, Josey McNamara, and Milan Popelka, is producing.
The premise positions Robbie and Cooper as two con-artists operating in the world that shaped the man at the center of Steven Soderbergh's 2001 heist film. It is a story told backward: the parents before the son, Monaco before Las Vegas.
Moura brings significant recent momentum. He won Best Actor at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival for The Secret Agent. The performance also earned a Golden Globe and an Oscar nomination. Casting him as the prequel's central antagonist places one of the most decorated dramatic actors of recent years against two of Hollywood's most commercially dominant performers.
The Ocean's franchise has earned over $1.4 billion globally for Warner Bros. The prequel is dated for June 25, 2027.
Three names, 1962 Monaco, and a villain still in negotiations. The shape of this film is becoming clear.