Ocean’s 8: Here's the REAL reason Matt Damon’s cameo was cut

WARNING: Mild spoilers for Ocean’s 8 ahead.

Damon confirmed earlier this year that he had filmed a brief appearance for the movie, which boasts an all-female lead cast.

It’s a continuation on the story started by the male-dominated Ocean’s Eleven, Twelve and Thirteen – in which Damon starred.

But over the weekend, following Ocean’s 8’s arrival in US cinemas, fans noticed he was nowhere to be seen – with links being drawn to the fact that a petition with 28,000 signatures had demanded he be removed.

Ross, however, has explained that his absence is purely story-related.

“[Picking the cameos] is an eclectic process of: how does it fit in the story and how is the narrative unfolding?” he told The Hollywood Reporter.

“This more than any movie I’ve done had a really copious editorial process where you play with stuff, you find stuff.

“I’ve never shot anything after I’ve wrapped on any other movie before, but in a heist movie and an ensemble movie, you’re still working on the play. And we did a bunch of that, and so that was satisfying as well.”

He added: “There were a lot of people who were gracious to us that just for editorial and storytelling reasons didn’t make it in and some who did.

“If you know, we ended up shooting probably another 10 days afterwards, so there’s a lot of material and a lot of shaping.

“But it really just comes to storytelling.”

Ocean’s 8 had a very strong start at the US box office, enjoying a better opening weekend than any of its predecessors, though that’s without accounting for inflation.

It stars Sandra Bullock as the sister of Danny Ocean, the criminal played by George Clooney in the other movies. Cate Blanchett, Rihanna, Helena Bonham-Carter and Sarah Paulson are among her co-stars.

Ocean’s 8 is out next Monday in the UK.