Ocean's 8 swipes box office crown with $41.5 million opening

Ocean’s 8 is making out like a bandit.

Warner Bros’. female-led heist movie is on track to debut with about $41.5 million in ticket sales from 4,145 theaters in the U.S. and Canada this weekend, easily dethroning two-time box office champ Solo: A Star Wars Story and holding off fellow newcomers Hereditary and Hotel Artemis.

That figure represents a solid start for Ocean’s 8, toward the higher end of industry projections, and it’s the biggest opening of the Ocean’s franchise, not adjusted for inflation. (Ocean’s 11, 12, and 13 bowed with $38.1 million, $39.2 million, and $36.1 million in 2001, 2004, and 2007.) Time will tell if the series’ fourth installment can match or exceed the global success of its predecessors, which combined to earn more than $1 billion at the worldwide box office. Through Sunday, Ocean’s 8 will have grossed about $12.2 million overseas.

Putting a gender-swapped spin on the Ocean’s movies, which were previously led by George Clooney and Brad Pitt, the latest installment stars Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett, Anne Hathaway, Mindy Kaling, Sarah Paulson, Awkwafina, Rihanna, and Helena Bonham Carter as a crew of swindlers who plot a major job at the Met Gala in New York City. Gary Ross (The Hunger Games) directed the film, taking the reins from Steven Soderbergh.

Critics’ reviews were mixed to positive, while moviegoers gave Ocean’s 8 a B-plus CinemaScore. The audience on opening weekend was 69 percent female.

Taking second and third place this weekend are two other franchise-extending movies: Disney and Lucasfilm’s Star Wars spinoff Solo, with about $15.2 million, and Fox’s superhero sequel Deadpool 2, with about $13.7 million.

Those numbers bring Solo to a domestic total of $176.1 million after 17 days in theaters, and Deadpool 2 to $278.7 after 17 days.

Cracking the top four is A24’s buzzed-about horror movie Hereditary, with an estimated $13 million from 2,964 screens. That doubles industry forecasts and marks the biggest opening weekend ever for for the indie studio.

Written and directed by Ari Aster, the film stars Toni Collette as a woman whose family is haunted after her mother dies. Hereditary received a dismal D-plus CinemaScore, but critics gave it glowing reviews.

This weekend’s other newcomer, the Global Road action thriller Hotel Artemis, arrives with about $3.2 million from 2,407 theaters, good for the No. 8 spot. Drew Pearce wrote and directed the movie, which stars Jodie Foster as a nurse running a secret hospital for criminals in near-future Los Angeles. The cast also includes Sterling K. Brown, Sofia Boutella, and Brian Tyree Henry. Reviews were mixed, and audiences gave it a C-minus CinemaScore.

According to ComScore, overall box office is up 4.3 percent year-to-date. Check out the June 8-10 figures below.

1. Ocean’s 8 — $41.5 million
2. Solo: A Star Wars Story — $15.2 million
3. Deadpool 2 — $13.7 million
4. Hereditary — $13 million
5. Avengers: Infinity War — $6.8 million
6. Adrift — $5.1 million
7. Book Club — $4.2 million
8. Hotel Artemis — $3.2 million
9. Upgrade — $2.2 million
10. Life of the Party — $2.1 million