‘Ocean’s Fourteen’ assembles for a ‘John Wick’ director

Another week down, and we’re flying through January ... which means it’s time for the Friday edition of Popculturology.

After being out of town last Saturday, I spent Sunday watching my Buffalo Bills move on to the AFC conference championship (go Bills) and catching up on Dave Chappelle’s most recent attempt to host SNL.

Beyond that I didn’t watch much this past week, but I did finish Rendezvous with Rama, the iconic science-fiction novel from Arthur C. Clarke. If you’ve read it, are the sequels worth reading? (Based on what I’ve read, they don’t seem like it.) I’m curious to see how Dune director Denis Villeneuve tackles adapting the novel when he eventually fits it into his busy schedule.

Nom nom nom

Nominations for the 97th Oscars were announced on Thursday, with Emilia Pérez, The Brutalist and Wicked leading the way. (No, The Wild Robot didn’t break into the Best Picture field.) Check out the nominations if you missed yesterday’s special edition of the newsletter.

• “Better luck next time, Villeneuve”: Over at Slate, Nadira Goffe rightfully lays into the Academy for its overall snubbing of Dune: Part Two, writing: “However, anyone who has eyes, ears, a brain, and working memory of what it felt like to see Dune’s follow-up and all the accompanying mass fervor for it will understand that some recognition is sorely missing from this lineup.” (Slate)

NEWS, NOTES & TRAILERS

Ocean’s Fourteen springs into action

It’s been fifteen years since George Clooney and Brad Pitt pulled off a heist for the Ocean’s franchise. (Only seven years since Sandra Bullock did the same.)

It’s honestly a surprise that Warner Bros. Pictures hasn’t gotten already made several more Ocean’s movies starring Clooney, Pitt, Matt Damon and the rest of the crew. Even before Ocean’s 8, the franchise had grossed a billion dollars worldwide for the studio.

Now it sounds like Warner Bros. is ready for another heist — and David Leitch will be the man to bring it back to the big screen.

While Leitch isn’t a household name, you’re likely familiar with his work. He was an uncredited director on the first John Wick before going on to direct Atomic Blonde, Deadpool 2, Hobbs & Shaw and Bullet Train. Leitch then directed The Fall Guy, which was a love letter to the stunt work industry. He was on the cusp of helming a major franchise before passing on the upcoming Jurassic World sequel that wound up going to Godzilla director Gareth Edwards.

What makes Leitch a pretty interesting pick for Ocean’s Fourteen is that he doesn’t have a film like it on his résumé. The Ocean’s movies aren’t slow by any means — but they’re not John Wick-esque stunt-heavy films.

The original three Ocean’s films were directed by Steven Soderbergh, which makes switching to Leitch feel like a pretty drastic change of gears. (The Hollywood Reporter)

Star Wars gains some Kenergy

A deal isn’t quite done yet, but it looks like Ryan Gosling is headed to a galaxy far, far away. The Barbie actor is in talks to star in Deadpool & Wolverine director Shawn Levy’s Star Wars film.