Ocean’s 8 Steals First Place in Theaters
Warner Bros. Pictures’ Ocean’s 8 debuted in first place last weekend (June 8-10) with $41.61 million. In pure numbers, that is higher than the openings for any of the three previous Ocean’s films from the 2000s, although it is lower than all three previous installments when adjusted for inflation.
Boasting a powerhouse all-woman lead cast including Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett, Anne Hathaway, Rihanna and Helena Bonham Carter, the movie got off to a strong start on Friday and played solidly through the weekend to an audience that was 69 percent female and 69 percent over the age of 25. The franchise’s previous opening weekend record was set by Ocean’s Twelve, which debuted to $39.1 million in December 2004.
While the Ocean’s franchise had been dormant for 11 years (Ocean’s Thirteen opened on the same day in 2007), the studio updated it with an all-woman ensemble, avoiding a sense of having been-there-done-that. It also gave an added boost to the film’s profile, with excitement building as a roster of A-list female stars attached themselves to the project in the lead-up to production. Warner Bros. mounted an impressive marketing blitz that emphasized the film’s diverse cast, from old-school stars like Bullock and Blanchett to young guns Rihanna and Awkwafina.
Because it was an all-woman reboot of a franchise traditionally starring men, comparisons are being made between Ocean’s 8 and the Ghostbusters reboot from 2016. While the former debuted a bit lower than the latter’s $46 million opening weekend, its reported production budget is roughly half as much, giving it a boost in terms of profitability.
The leader for the past two weekends, Walt Disney Entertainment and Lucasfilm’s Solo: A Star Wars Story, slipped to second place with a 46.4 percent drop to $15.75 million giving it a domestic total of $176.70 million. The previous leader, 20th Century Fox’s Deadpool 2, fell to third with a 39.0 percent drop to $14.15 million in its fourth weekend. While the antihero sequel will finish considerably lower than its predecessor in North America (the first film grossed $363 million domestically), it is still an impressive total, particularly given its placement in the thick of the summer movie season.
Also debuting this weekend was A24’s horror flick Hereditary, which opened to a solid $13.58 million for fourth place. In addition to being A24’s widest release ever on almost 3,000 screens, Hereditary also scored the indie distributor’s biggest opening weekend, topping the $8.8 million brought in by The Witch in 2015. It was a very good debut for the reported $10 million-budgeted film, which benefitted from massive buzz following its premiere at this year’s Sundance Film Festival.
As was the case with The Witch, audiences and critics appear somewhat divided on Hereditary. Critics rated it higher than audiences. Nonetheless, even if it drops significantly next weekend, it should end up as another tidy horror hit for the studio when all is said and done.
Fifth place went to Disney and Marvel Studio’s Avengers: Infinity War, which took in $7.24 million in its seventh weekend of release, a drop of 31.1 percent. It now has earned $655.14 million and will remain the second highest-grossing Marvel Comics Universe release of all time in North America, just behind Black Panther.
STX’s Adrift, which earned $5.27 million in its second weekend, finished in sixth place. That represents a drop of 54.6 percent from its debut the previous weekend, giving the survival film starring Shailene Woodley a total of $21.96 million after 10 days.
In seventh place, Paramount Pictures’ sleeper hit Book Club took in $4.29 million, a drop of 39.1 percent. That gives it a solid $56.96 million total after four weeks.
The weekend’s other wide debut, Global Road’s Hotel Artemis, had a less impressive launch, debuting in eighth place with $3.23 million. Starring Jodie Foster and Sterling K. Brown, the action film is just the third release from the distributor, which released the family-oriented Show Dogs last month. Reviews were mixed.
Rounding out the Top 10, ninth place went to BH Tilt’s low-budget sci-fi/thriller Upgrade, which followed up its better-than-expected $4.67 million debut the previous weekend with $2.38 million, a fall of 49.0 percent, giving it a total of $9.35 million after 10 days. In tenth, Warner Bros./New Line’s Melissa McCarthy comedy Life of the Party took in $2.17 million, a slip of 38.0 percent, for a $50.33 million total after five weeks.
The top 10 films grossed $109.67 million. That is 13.0 percent ahead of the $97.05 million total the previous weekend. However, it is 20.13 percent behind the $137.31 million on the same weekend last year, when Wonder Woman led for the second time with $58.52 million. Total box office year-to-date equals $5.18 billion. That is 5.0 percent above last year.
June 8-10, 2018
This Week | Last Week | Movie | Weekend Gross | Cumulative Gross | Weeks |
1 | New | Ocean’s 8 | $41.61M | $41.61M | 1 |
2 | 1 | Solo: A Star Wars Story | $15.75M | $176.70M | 3 |
3 | 2 | Deadpool 2 | $14.15M | $279.16M | 4 |
4 | New | Hereditary | $13.58M | $13.58M | 1 |
5 | 4 | Avengers: Infinity War | $7.24M | $655.14M | 7 |
6 | 3 | Adrift | $5.27M | $21.96M | 2 |
7 | 5 | Book Club | $4.29M | $56.96M | 4 |
8 | New | Hotel Artemis | $3.23M | $3.23M | 1 |
9 | 6 | Upgrade | $2.38M | $9.35M | 2 |
10 | 7 | Life of the Party | $2.17M | $50.33M | 5 |
Editor-in-Chief Mark Heckathorn is a journalist, movie buff and foodie. He oversees DC on Heels editorial operations as well as strategic planning and staff development. Reach him with story ideas or suggestions at dcoheditor (at) gmail (dot) com.