Ocean's 8, the female-fronted overhaul of the starry "Ocean's" heist franchise, opened with an estimated $41.5 million at the box office, taking the weekend's top spot from the fast-falling Solo: A Star Wars Story, the AP reports. At a lower price point and in a less fanboy-guarded franchise, Ocean's 8—despite ho-hum reviews—found nothing like the stormy reception than the female-led Ghostbusters reboot did on the same weekend two years ago. Made for approximately $70 million, Ocean's 8 and its cast featuring Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett, and Anne Hathaway, set an opening-weekend best for the franchise, not accounting for inflation.
The three previous "Ocean's" films—starring Brad Pitt, George Clooney, and Matt Damon, and based on the 1960 original Ocean's 11 with Frank Sinatra—all debuted with between $36-39 million in the last decade. In fact, the weekend's three new wide releases were all female fronted. The horror thriller Hereditary, starring Toni Collette, debuted with $13 million, setting a new company record for A24, the indie distributor behind releases like The Witch and Moonlight. Less successful was Hotel Artemis, starring Jodie Foster. The Global Road release flopped with $3.2 million in 2,407 theaters. The weekend's top five after Ocean's 8 are Solo ($15.2 million), Deadpool 2 ($13.8 million), Hereditary ($13 million), and Avengers: Infinity War ($6.9 million), Variety reports.
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