‘Ocean’s’ Prequel Starring Margot Robbie Loses Director Lee Isaac Chung

The Margot Robbie-led Ocean’s Eleven prequel, titled Oceans’, has lost its Oscar-nominated director. While Warner Bros. moves full speed ahead on Ocean’s Fourteen, that reunites George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Julia Roberts, and more for a classic heist, the planned prequel film has faced yet another setback. Robbie is set to play the mother of Danny and Deborah Ocean in a prequel film, which was set to be directed by Minari and Twisters director Lee Isaac Chung.

Deadline revealed that Lee Isaac Chung has now dropped out of Ocean’s. Chung, who was nominated for Best Director and Best Original Screenplay for his 2021 film Minari. A representative from Warner Bros. told Deadline that “this is an amicable split due to creative differences.” Warner Bros and LuckyChap representatives released a further statement, saying:

“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 Constant Changes Behind the Scenes to ‘The Ocean’s Prequel

Warner Bros. Pictures

The Ocean‘s prequel was first announced in May 2022. Robbie was set to star in the film, set to be directed by Jay Roach, best known for the Austin Powers, Meet the Parents, and Meet the Fockers. By August 2022, Ryan Gosling was set to co-star alongside Robbie, reuniting the two after they had previously worked on Barbie. Gosling was set to play Robbie’s husband and the father of George Clooney and Sandra Bullock’s Danny and Deborah Ocean, respectively. The film faced significant production delays in 2023 due to the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes.

In July 2025, it was reported that Lee Isaac Chung had replaced Roach as the director for the Ocean’s prequel film. Lee Isaac Chung’s Twisters, the standalone sequel to 1996’s Twisters, became one of the top-grossing films of 2024 with a $372 million worldwide total. By October 2025, Bradley Cooper was in talks to replace Gosling, who had departed the project. Warner Bros. then shifted its focus to Ocean’s Fourteen, a straightforward legacy sequel to the original Ocean‘s trilogy. Production on Ocean’s Fourteen, directed by Bullet Train‘s David Leitch, is set to begin filming in August 2026, with the studio eying a 2027 release date.

Warner Bros. is now on the lookout for a new director for their Ocean’s prequel. Warner Bros. likely has Ocean’s as a high-priority project, given star Margot Robbie, who has a good working relationship with the studio, having starred as Harley Quinn in the DCEU, led their most successful film, Barbie, and recently helped turn Wuthering Heights into a box office hit. Lee Isaac Chung is reportedly set to direct a sci-fi drama for Skydance called The Traveler, which was announced in January 2025, before he signed on to Ocean’s. With Paramount Skydance in the process of acquiring Warner Bros. Discovery, Ocean‘s will soon find itself under the same corporate umbrella as Lee Isaac Chung’s The Traveler.