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Sunday, Sunday, Sunday! Panda vs. Robot in no-holds-barred match!

Kim Hollis: Given that Pixar's opening weekends seem to be on the decline, do you see WALL-E matching/exceeding Kung Fu Panda's result or do you think bragging rights will go to DreamWorks this summer?

Max Braden: The strength of WALL-E's visuals is obvious, but the "okay, but what's it about?" factor isn't. I actually have to keep reassuring myself that it won't turn into a trippy epic like 2001 or A.I. But I think WALL-E will pick up as much additional adult audience as it cedes in the kid demographic to Kung Fu Panda. So I can see Panda winning the opening weekend title but WALL-E finishing with a greater total gross.

Joel Corcoran: Pixar's movies have always been better than DreamWorks' animation releases, and I think they'll continue to be better. But as we know in this business, critically "better" doesn't always mean "more popular" or "more profitable." Personally, I think it'll be a draw between WALL-E and Kung Fu Panda in terms of opening weekend and total box office take (domestic and international), but WALL-E will get and win more award nominations this year.

Tim Briody: Kung Fu Panda's opening handily beats Ratatouille, and barely beats Cars' $60.1, but I don't see WALL-E beating this opening. It wouldn't shock anyone for WALL-E to eventually come out on top, but for the time being, DreamWorks is the one to beat this summer.





Kim Hollis: I'm going out on a limb and saying WALL-E opens to $70 million or more. It looks adorable, and it's much, much easier to sell a cute robot than it is a charming rat or even a talking car.

Reagen Sulewski: I think they've getting better at letting people know what it's about, but they almost don't need to. My take on this is that it's kind of like a reverse E.T., and the personality of the main character is endearing and immediately obvious to kids.

David Mumpower: I agree with Kim. Feel free to bookmark this post and mock me later if I'm wrong, but I believe Wall-E will be the biggest three-day opening ever for Pixar. The character is immediately lovable, a problem Ratatouille had trouble overcoming. And the promise of Pixar animating outer space sequences is enough to pull in adults who might have waited until DVD for other releases of theirs. I will be very, very surprised if Wall-E cannot manage a total in excess of $60 million on opening weekend.

James D. Ruccio: I agree with David and Kim here and immediately identified with the character. It is absolutely a classic, animated archetype. I think this does $70 million very easily. The story is obvious. The visuals are lush and upfront. It appears very amusing and perhaps even funny.

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