'Ocean's 8' Rules the Weekend

Ocean's Eight, with its predominantly female cast, easily won the weekend this week, pushing ahead of fantasy films Solo: A Star Wars Story and Deadpool 2. Find out how big the victory was by reading on.

Via The Hollywood Reporter.

Proving that fanboy-centric tentpoles aren't the only summer box-office jewels, the female-fronted Ocean's 8 opened over the weekend to a series-best $41.5 million from 4,145 theaters to easily place No. 1 in North America.

Overseas, the pic grossed $12.2 million from its first 16 markets, many of them in Latin America, for a global start of $53.7 million.

The movie's debut is a victory for the slew of gender-swapping spinoffs and remakes being plotted by Hollywood studios, and launches two years after the big-budget, female-led Ghostbusters reboot ultimately lost money despite a $46 million opening.

From Warner Bros. and Village Roadshow, Ocean's 8 stars Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett, Anne Hathaway, Mindy Kaling, Sarah Paulson, Awkwafina, Rihanna and Helena Bonham Carter. The movie scored one of the top 10 openings of the year to date, matching the likes of the far more expensive Ready Player One.

"The target audience — females — are just so underserved," says Warners domestic distribution president Jeff Goldstein.

Women, as well as older moviegoers, fueled the film's opening: Females made up nearly 70 percent of the audience, while nearly 70 percent of ticket buyers were 25 and older. The audience was also perse: Caucasians made up 56 percent, followed by Hispanics (17 percent), Asians/other (14 percent) and African-Americans (13 percent), according to Warners.

Ocean's 8, which revives the Ocean's franchise after an 11-year absence from the big screen, posted the biggest domestic start of the four films in the series, not accounting for inflation. Ocean's Thirteen debuted to $36.1 million in 2007, preceded by $39.2 million for Ocean's Twelve in 2004 and $38.1 million in 2001 for Ocean's Eleven. Adjusted for inflation, those figures rise to $48.1 million, $57.7 million and $61.7 million, respectively.

The $70 million film stars Bullock as Debbie Ocean, the sister of Danny Ocean, who was portrayed by George Clooney in the trio of Ocean's movies directed by Steven Soderbergh. The story follows the familiar Ocean's formula, with Debbie getting released from prison and assembling a female-led gang of criminal specialists who plot a diamond heist at the Met Gala.

Get the rest of the story at The Hollywood Reporter.

Did you see a new movie this weekend? Tell us which one in the comments below.