Sandra Bullock is to lead a new Ocean’s Eleven film which will reimagine the conman caper as an all-female affair, in the latest example of Hollywood’s current penchant for gender-swapped projects, reports The Playlist.

Bullock is reuniting with George Clooney, star of the 2001 remake of Ocean’s Eleven and its two sequels, who will take a producer’s role on the new iteration. Clooney (again as producer) and Bullock also worked together on the political satire Our Brand is Crisis, which debuts in the US this weekend and features the Oscar-winning star of Gravity and The Blind Side in a role originally intended for her male colleague.

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Hunger Games director Gary Ross is tipped to take charge of the new Ocean’s Eleven film, which also has the backing of Steven Soderbergh, director of the 2001-2007 trilogy. This will be the second reinvention for the saga, which originally began life as a 1960 heist movie featuring Ratpack stars Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr, Peter Lawford and Joey Bishop.

Little Women screenwriter Olivia Milch has reportedly handed in her first version of the script for the all-female remake, whose links to the most recent trilogy remain nebulous. It is reportedly possible that Clooney could cameo as Danny Ocean, protagonist of the 2001-2007 trilogy, so Bullock would most likely be playing a new lead role rather than a direct gender-swapped equivalent.



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The revelation that a new Ocean’s Eleven is in the works featuring an ensemble cast of women follows the announcement of an upcoming all-female remake of Ghostbusters starring Bridesmaids’ Melissa McCarthy and Kristen Wiig alongside Saturday Night Live alumni Kate McKinnon and Leslie Jones as the main proton pack-wielding quartet. Other gender-swapped movies due to hit cinemas include the Marvel comic book epic Doctor Strange, with Tilda Swinton in the supporting role of sorcerous mentor The Ancient One, thriller remake The Secret in Their Eyes with Julia Roberts and spy thriller The Gray Man (with Charlize Theron in a role once eyed by Brad Pitt).

Of the above, Ghostbusters has proven the most controversial, with some fans of the 1984 film objecting to the idea of an all-female remake, despite the new movie having received the backing of original stars Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd and Ernie Hudson.