Despite significant disdain and backlash over news of an all-female Ocean's Eleven reboot, the resulting film, Ocean's 8, is now a box office success.
With an estimated domestic gross of $41.5 million during its first weekend, the film topped the box office and outperformed weekend industry expectations, which said the film would only hover around 30 million.
Add to that an estimated $12.2 million from international markets, which bring the film's total first weekend gross to $53.7 million. That's not bad for a film with a $70 million budget. So far, the results show that whatever risk the studios took in revamping the Ocean's franchise to feature female actresses, it certainly paid off.
Ocean's 8
Ocean's 8 is in theaters now. It stars Sandra Bullock as Danny Ocean's estranged sister Debbie Ocean, fresh out of jail and already gathering the people she needs to execute a heist during the Met Gala. She recruits a motley crew of women, each with their own exquisite skill — played by Cate Blanchett, Mindy Kaling, Sarah Paulson, Awkwafina, Rihanna, and Helena Bonham Carter — to steal a $150 million-dollar necklace worn by Daphne Kluger, played by Anne Hathaway.
As of writing, the film holds a 68 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Below are excerpts from critics' reviews.
Ocean's 8 Critic Reviews
Time: "Ocean's 8 is one of those movies that's enjoyable enough in the moment, but you're likely to forget what you saw within 10 minutes of leaving the theater. It promised us diamonds; we'll just have to make do with CZ."
The New Yorker: "The very existence of a film like 'Ocean's 8' makes an odd double assertion: remakes or reboots putting women into roles originated in movies centered on men prove (as if anyone doubted it) that women can be as good as men in any role — but also that their movies can be as bad as any in which men star. "Ocean's 8" isn't bad — it's simply not up to the talents of its cast."
Paste: "As sleekly constructed as Ocean's 8 is, it's not as artful in its execution as previous installments were. The movie coasts on the pleasure of its ensemble's company, even if it's not a clean getaway."
CNN: "As with 'Ocean's Eleven' — the original rat pack incarnation and the sequel-begetting 2001 remake — everyone seems to be having a pretty good time, which gives a playful, breezy quality to the relatively thin material."
NPR: "The shortcomings of the film's style, and in particular the mostly bland direction, will likely dull both reviews of it and reception of it by audiences — particularly given how central style was to Ocean's Eleven. But the charisma of the cast is tremendous, it's still a breezy and adventurous heist movie, and particularly in the performance from Hathaway, it's timely, in its way, just as its predecessor was."
Boston Globe: "I don't want to sound too harsh — the movie's a two-and-three-quarters-star affair if ever there were one — but everyone here is pulling her weight except the man behind the camera. We go to heist films to see the suckers get taken in high style. This one just robs us bland.
