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Let's go to the movies!

Kim Hollis: Can you ever remember a more exciting time for box office analysis or movie fandom?

David Mumpower: When BOP debuted in the summer of 2001, the box office promptly exploded. The Mummy Returns, Rush Hour 2, Planet of the Apes and Monsters, Inc. all had openings between $60 and $69 million, making them four of the five biggest openings of all-time behind only The Lost World. Then, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone broke the dinosaur epic's four and a half year old record to become the biggest box office opener of all time...by $18 million. That's the last time we saw one of these box office spikes where the entire marketplace for blockbusters was impacted. 2007 has seen a rare combination of that sort of one-time significant growth in the overall box office landscape combined with a once-a-generation level of blockbuster quality.

Reagen Sulewski: Let's hear it for trilogies! The interesting thing about this summer is that nothing is really disappointing relative to expectations, and even the films that opened a little lower than their pedigrees would have to believe are showing excellent legs (Ratatouille, Die Hard).

Kim Hollis: I absolutely think that this is a thrilling time to be a movie fan. I'll be honest. I had reached a point where it was really taking something special for me to consider going to the movie theater. The past few weeks, I've been excited to see a number of new releases. I'm happy to feel that way again about movies.

Looks like this is the end!

Kim Hollis: Underdog opened to an estimated $12 million from 3,013 venues. What should Disney think of this result?

Shane Jenkins: After watching the trailer again, I decided that I would probably bug my parents to see this if I were ten. I don't think $12 million is too bad for a star-less movie, based on a property I doubt today's children are even familiar with.

David Mumpower: "Why did we even bother?"

You know how you at some point in your life made out with (or did even more with) someone and you totally regret it now so you can't make eye contact with them ever again? That's how I feel about Jason Lee because of Underdog.

Reagen Sulewski: I'm not sure how much of this I put towards Disney's vaunted ability to market just about anything, and how much to put towards the idea that kids just like movies with animals that talk in them. Of course, that just makes me think about Babe 2 flopping and I get a little depressed.

Jim Van Nest: Considering Underdog threw under Garfield by almost $10 million, I don't see how they can consider this anything but a disappointment. And it didn't suffer from a lack of advertising. I have to go back to Spidey 3 for a movie I remember seeing so many commercials for (of course, my kids watch a lot of cartoons, so that probably has something to do with it.) That being said, my kids would rather see The Simpsons than Underdog. This was just a bad idea from the get-go and it never got better. As for Jason Lee...at least he can use Alvin and the Chipmunks to redeem himself.

David Mumpower: Jason Lee redeeming himself with Alvin and the Chipmunks? How...optimistic.

Jim Van Nest: Yeah, whoever is picking his scripts, should be looking for work. And if he's doing it, then there needs to be an intervention.

Dan Krovich: I don't think they can be too disappointed based on the box office competition. They'll have the DVD out in time for Christmas, and that's what they're really looking for. If it does well there, they have another straight to DVD franchise they can mine.

Kim Hollis: I have to imagine Disney is okay with this result, given that the movie's release is basically a big commercial for the eventual DVD anyway. As for Jason Lee, how do we know he didn't just do the movie for Pilot Inspektor?

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