The women of ‘Ocean’s 8’ steal the show at the box office

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The women of Ocean’s 8 proved this weekend that they know how to steal the show, and much more, as the new heist flick took in an estimated $41.6 million in North American theaters.

With an all-star cast led by ever-popular Sandra Bullock and supported by Cate Blanchett, Anne Hathaway, Helena Bonham Carter, Mindy Kaling and Rihanna, the Warner Bros film was Hollywood’s latest experiment, after Ghostbusters, in replacing an all-male cast with female stars.

The result: one of the top 10 openings of the year so far, according to box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations, and a better debut than the three earlier Ocean’s editions made by Stephen Soderbergh and starring a male principal cast.

The latest chapter stars Bullock as Debbie Ocean, sister of Danny Ocean, played by George Clooney in the Soderbergh films, as she assembles a gang of talented women to plan a seemingly impossible diamond heist from a glamorous gala in New York.

In second place was last weekend’s leader, Solo: A Star Wars Story, starring Alden Ehrenreich as a young version of the swashbuckling space pilot. The Disney film took in $15.7 million, roughly half its previous weekend’s total.

The third spot went to Deadpool 2 from 20th Century Fox, at $14.1 million. This latest in Fox’s X-men series stars Ryan Reynolds in the title role. Its worldwide ticket sales have surpassed $650 million.

In fourth was a new film, Hereditary, at $13.6 million, the best opening ever for A24, the indie production house behind MoonlightLady Bird and The Disaster Artist.

The horror film, about a family haunted after its matriarch dies, stars Toni Collette and Gabriel Byrne. Its decent opening came in spite of an R-rating and a D+ audience rating from CinemaScore.

In fifth was Avengers: Infinity War, from Disney-owned Marvel, at $7.2 million.

With a cast including Robert Downey Jr, Benedict Cumberbatch and Scarlett Johansson, the superstar-rich extravaganza is now a mere $500,000 away from becoming the fourth movie in history to cross the $2 billion mark worldwide.