ocean s twelve raids box office ocean s twelve  the crime caper sequel starring george clooney  brad pitt and julia roberts  has gone straight to number one in the us box office chart.  it took $40.8m (£21m) in weekend ticket sales  according to studio estimates. the sequel follows the master criminals as they try to pull off three major heists across europe. it knocked last week s number one  national treasure  into third place. wesley snipes  blade: trinity was in second  taking $16.1m (£8.4m). rounding out the top five was animated fable the polar express  starring tom hanks  and festive comedy christmas with the kranks.  ocean s twelve box office triumph marks the fourth-biggest opening for a december release in the us  after the three films in the lord of the rings trilogy. the sequel narrowly beat its 2001 predecessor  ocean s eleven which took $38.1m (£19.8m) on its opening weekend and $184m (£95.8m) in total. a remake of the 1960s film  starring frank sinatra and the rat pack  ocean s eleven was directed by oscar-winning director steven soderbergh. soderbergh returns to direct the hit sequel which reunites clooney  pitt and roberts with matt damon  andy garcia and elliott gould. catherine zeta-jones joins the all-star cast.  it s just a fun  good holiday movie   said dan fellman  president of distribution at warner bros. however  us critics were less complimentary about the $110m (£57.2m) project  with the los angeles times labelling it a  dispiriting vanity project . a milder review in the new york times dubbed the sequel  unabashedly trivial .