Vintage racing cars, period tailoring and a city wound back six decades: for a few days this week, Port Hercule has been doubling as the Monaco of 1962. The occasion is the filming of the Ocean’s Eleven prequel, starring Margot Robbie and Bradley Cooper, which has taken over the harbour to recreate that year’s Grand Prix.
The Warner Bros production, working under the title Sandcastles, remains in the Principality until Friday 28th August. Hundreds of extras in period costume have joined the shoot, alongside classic cars and sets built to reproduce the Monaco of the early 1960s. And this time the Principality is no mere backdrop. It is the scene of the crime.
From the port to Casino Square
Over five mornings, the shoot is working through some of Monaco’s most recognisable settings. It opened around Port Hercule on Monday before moving through central Monaco and Monte-Carlo, taking in stretches of Avenue Princesse Grace along the way.
On Thursday it reaches the Principality’s grandest address, closing Place du Casino, the forecourt of the Casino de Monte-Carlo, for filming, before finishing on Friday around Portier and Larvotto and back at the port.
A heist at the 1962 Grand Prix
The film reaches back to before there was a Danny Ocean at all, to the parents who, it seems, taught him the trade. Robbie confirmed at CinemaCon in April that the couple set out to pull off a major heist during the 1962 Monaco Grand Prix, with she and Cooper expected to play Danny’s mother and father, though Warner Bros has yet to confirm their characters’ names.
Danny Ocean, of course, is the career criminal played by George Clooney in Steven Soderbergh’s Ocean’s Eleven, Ocean’s Twelve and Ocean’s Thirteen. That makes Monaco central to the story rather than a stand-in for somewhere else: the robbery happens here, against the noise and glamour of race weekend.
Cooper takes over
Cooper has written the latest draft of the screenplay and is directing, starring and producing, his fourth film behind the camera after A Star Is Born, Maestro and Is This Thing On?
Getting here took time. Since the project was announced in 2022, it has passed through the hands of two directors, Jay Roach and then Lee Isaac Chung, while Ryan Gosling was once lined up for the male lead. Cooper took the reins earlier this year after Chung’s departure. Robbie produces through LuckyChap, the company she runs with Tom Ackerley, Josey McNamara and Milan Popelka, and Carrie Solomon worked on earlier versions of the script.
Who else is in it
Wagner Moura leads the supporting cast as the film’s principal antagonist, with Monica Barbaro and Josh Gad also in significant roles. The wider ensemble reportedly includes Vicky Krieps, George MacKay, Lauren Ridloff, Jack Holden and Omar Sy, though Warner Bros has yet to release a full official cast list.
Cooper did his homework in April
This is not Cooper’s first Monaco reconnaissance. Back in April, he was spotted at the 15th Grand Prix de Monaco Historique, moving through the paddock and grandstands and photographing the vintage cars, at one point lying flat on the circuit to shoot them from below.
The real race behind the fiction
The 1962 Monaco Grand Prix the film borrows was a race worth borrowing. Held on 3rd June, it was won by Bruce McLaren in a Cooper-Climax, no relation to the film’s director. Jim Clark took pole but retired, and Graham Hill looked set for victory until his BRM’s engine let go late in the 100-lap race, leaving Ferrari’s Phil Hill and Lorenzo Bandini to complete the podium.
Prince Rainier III and Princess Grace were on hand to present the trophy that day, and whether the production also revisits the Monaco of the reigning couple, at the height of its glamour, is not yet known.
From Paris to the Riviera
Monaco is only one stop on a longer shoot. Filming reached Monaco from Paris, where Robbie and Cooper were photographed on set as recently as last week, Robbie in tailored 1960s black-and-white looks that drew comparisons with Audrey Hepburn and Monica Barbaro in period suiting alongside her. After Monaco, the shoot is expected to continue elsewhere on the French Riviera, including Nice.
Casting a 1962 crowd
Filling those streets with a convincing 1962 crowd has been a project in itself. Back in June, casting notices called for extras aged 18 to 90 across Nice and Monaco, covering the full cast of a Grand Prix weekend, from croupiers, sommeliers and concierges to mechanics, racing drivers, firefighters, dancers, musicians and sailors.
Sandcastles, for now, remains only a working title. The finished film, still officially untitled, is is scheduled for release on 25th June 2027.
See also:
Ocean’s filming begins in Monaco with major traffic and bus changes
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Photo of the 1962 Monaco Grand Prix, source: Motorsport Images