Several years ago comedian John Mulaney joked that a female Ocean’s 11 couldn’t happen because there’d be no actual coordination. Two of the crew would, he said, would split off to gab about the other nine and the planning would devolve into passive-aggressive sniping. You know…like women do. Little did he know that Ocean’s 8, out this week, would be exactly that, only without the sexism implied in the bit.
You can read the core of the marketing recap for the movie at The Hollywood Reporter, while below I share some of the additional online and publicity beats not included there.
Online and Social
The “main” trailer plays when you load up the official website for the movie, so take a couple minutes and watch that again. After that the main page features the red curtain-themed key art with links to buy tickets or connect with the movie on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
As far as the rest of the site’s content there isn’t a whole lot. “Cast” just has the characters posters for each member of the team along with the name of the actress that plays her. “Videos” has the first two trailer and the “Gallery” has a handful of images. Finally, “Partners” just has information on the Cartier partnership detailed elsewhere.
There was a Snapchat filter created back in December timed with the release of the first trailer.
Media and Publicity
Outside of casting announcements, some of the first press was an interview with director Ross as he talked about working with Soderbergh over the years and more. It was a while then before the first production still was released.
Through 2016 and 2017 there were a few publicity pops here and there, including Blanchett talking about about why only eight women are involved here, Paulson shooting down the idea that all-female sets are filled with “cat fights” and more. Basically the cast spoke briefly about it while they were promoting other projects.
After the second trailer was released the publicity kicked into gear a bit, including this interview with members of the cast and the director where they talked about getting the vibe of the first three movies to come through here as well. There was also a profile of costar Awkwafina in EW’s summer movie preview that probably brought her to the attention of a lot of new people in the audience as well as a similar profile in the Los Angeles Times and then in Buzzfeed. Those stories came at the same time WB was presenting the movie to CinemaCon attendees as part of its upcoming release slate.
Later on there was an interview with Bullock and Kailing where the two talked about the unique opportunities afforded by working on a set filled with other women, something that doesn’t happen often as most of the time they’re the lone female around. At a press event hosted by the Metropolitan Museum of Art the whole cast talked about working together and how they all worshipped and adored Blanchett and showed off their fashion.
The press tour more or less started with Paulson showing up on “The Tonight Show” and talking about being starstruck by the cast she was working with. Kaling did likewise on “Late Night” as did Hathaway on “The Late Show” while Bullock hit “Kimmel.” There were a few instances where there was a group effort by all or most of the cast, including things like this game of “Never have I ever”, Rihanna making her costars uncomfortable and more. Kaling also showed up on “Ellen” to talk about working with all the other ladies.
That didn’t mean there weren’t individual efforts such as this solo interview with Hathaway, a feature profile of Kaling, a similar profile of Bullock and one for Rihanna. That being said, there has been a strong focus on selling the whole assembled star power. There was also a conversation with screenwriter Olivia Milch where she talked about the challenges of writing the movie, including introducing a bunch of female characters to a predominantly male universe and what that meant in terms of audience expectations.
Paulson and Blanchett gave a hilariously off-the-wall joint interview on “Today” that included more jokes at each others’ expense than information about the movie. Bullock also talked more about the movie, her career in general and the sexist behavior she’s been exposed to over the years.
AMC announced a special advanced “Girls Night Out” screening at select locations to help get the buzz going, an event that was open to all genders despite the name.
Overall
In addition to what I shared at THR, I just want to point out that this movie *feels* like an installment in the Ocean’s franchise. It has the same sizzle and energy as the trailers for the first three movies and that’s a big chunk of the heavy lifting that needed to be done. While the campaign doesn’t make the connection to the earlier movies overt, it gives off the vibe of being part of the same world and featuring some of the same character types, which is very much a good thing.
PICKING UP THE SPARE
There were multiple interviews with Sarah Edwards, the movie’s costume designer, as she talked about outfitting all the actors for the fake Met Gala they attend. How that event was filmed was also the subject of a behind-the-scenes profile.
Get the details on the Touissant Necklace that is the object of the heist.
Given that James Corden has a supporting role in the movie it’s only natural the cast would stop by his show to have some fun.
Gary Ross, the movie’s director, spoke about what cameos from the first three movies did or didn’t make the cut for the finished film.
More from Anne Hathaway and others in the cast here about how they hope the movie will help burst the myth that female-led movies are question marks theatrically.
Another quick profile of breakout star Awkwafina here. And Helena Bonham Carter is finally getting some attention with a profile where she talks about how fun it was to work on a light caper movie.
Cinematic Slant 