'Ocean's 8' Marketing Bets On Cast's Star Power to Sell Heist Film

Warner Bros.' promotional challenge? Recapturing the high-rolling swagger of the series.

Eleven years after the last George Clooney-led caper, Warner Bros. is reviving the Ocean's franchise for a new breezy heist film with an all-female lead cast.

Ocean's 8, featuring a star-studded line-up that includes Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett, Anne Hathaway, Mindy Kaling, Sarah Paulson, Awkwafina, Rihanna and Helen Bonham Carter, is storming into theaters stateside on June 8 with high hopes from the studio to relaunch the series.

Reviews for the film, which had been embargoed until 9 pm PST on Tuesday, have been generally favorable, with a 78 percent Rotten Tomatoes score so far. The film is tracking to open at nearly $40 million domestically.

The plot: Sandra Bullock plays Debbie Ocean, the sister of Clooney’s Danny Ocean. She’s just getting out of jail after five years of incarceration and proves to have been just as successfully rehabilitated as her brother, immediately getting to work planning a new job.

Warner Bros.' challenge? Recapturing the high-rolling swagger of the series and capturing a cast having a great time under the direction of Steven Soderbergh. Here's a closer look at how the studio has promoted the film.

The Trailers

Debuting on Dec. 12, the first trailer (12M views on YouTube) opens in the same way the theatrical trailer for Ocean’s Eleven did, with an Ocean making a statement to a parole board about why they should be let out of prison.

There’s more of the story in the second trailer (9.7M views), which arrived on April 8 and explains a bit more what Debbie’s plans and motivations are. It’s less about assembling the team and more about the heist itself and how it’s being planned and executed.

One final trailer (429K views), an exclusive on Fandango’s MovieClips channel on May 25, focuses on the talents of the individual team members, showing each one of them doing their thing after Debbie enlists them in the scheme.

The Posters

A series of character posters gave each star her time in the spotlight, each one accompanied by copy that explains their basic role in the scheme. So Bullock is the one who’s going to “Plan it,” Blanchett the one to “Risk it,” Kailing the one to “Fake it” and so on.

The whole gang is shown on the first teaser poster. Each one stands between long red backdrops and is wearing a black leather jacket and sunglasses. “Every con has its pros” reads the copy at the top.

That same stripped look was used on the theatrical one-sheet, though here everyone is standing in front of the curtain looking fabulous, each positioned on the basis of what their contract stipulated. “The plan is priceless” is the pun featured at the top of the poster.

Advertising, Promotions and Stunts

TV spots generally just cut the trailers down a bit to focus on one aspect of the story or another, be it the team, the heist or the glamour of the event. (Warner Bros. hasn’t added any of those commercials to its YouTube channel.)

Social media sponsored posts used the trailers and other short, character-centric videos while online and outdoor ads used the key art, especially the version showing the cast emerging from the red curtains.

Cartier was a major promotional partner signing on for the film, earning the designation of official jewelry partner for the movie, creating an exclusive necklace that’s featured in the film and which is reportedly inspired by one of the brand’s early creative directors. The company also hosted a movie-themed exhibit.

It makes sense given the movie’s story that some of the cast appeared at this year’s Met Gala, walking the red carpet and having a blast on the glamorous night.

Overall

One interesting note about the campaign Warner Bros. has run is how little connective material it tries to establish between this movie and the original Ocean’s series, plotwise. There are a few mentions of Debbie Ocean’s familial history and their penchant for thievery but it’s not overloaded with nods to the earlier movies or other direct connections.

That’s unusual in an age where sequels and franchises are marketed with as many references to what’s come before as possible, including footage from previous films. Instead, the studio is keeping the focus on selling the movie as a breezy heist flick with lots of celebrities having a great time in the world of high fashion and thievery.

Chris Thilk is a freelance writer with 15 years of experience in the social media and content marketing industry.

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