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People have had enough of shoes.

Kim Hollis: Sex and the City fell 63% to $21.2 million this weekend. Is its total of $99.2 million more, less or about where you expected it to be after last weekend's shocking results?

Max Braden: I expected better holdover from audiences who hadn't seen it last weekend. But if it had a more normal Friday based on its first Sunday take, the dropoff might have been closer to 50%. 27 Dresses had that dropoff and went on to a total gross well over 3.5 times its opening weekend. Sex and the City could creep up to the $150 million line by the end of its run.

Joel Corcoran: The result wasn't as good as I expected, but it's still going to have a very good run. Like Max, I expected a much better holdover, and I also thought it might get a lot more repeat viewers. So a 63% decline is a bit sharper than I anticipated, but I'll go further out on a limb than Max: I think Sex and the City will finish the year with a higher box office take than Horton Hears a Who (which currently stands at $152.8 million). I'll bet that audiences will come back to this movie in a couple weeks as an alternative to the string of super-mega-blockbuster-action-movies coming over the horizon.

Tim Briody: I was figuring a monumental 65% or so since it was clearly a one-night wonder at this point. I wouldn't be surprised if it equaled that next weekend, though.

Kim Hollis: This type of massive drop is precisely what I expected. Like Tim, I see it continuing to freefall in weeks to come.

David Mumpower: I had predicted this sort of behavior last week, so I cannot pretend to be surprised by it now. The one aspect of this I would like to point out is that $22.8 million is what many people had predicted to be its first weekend total. Making that type of money on weekend two is yet another example of how wonderfully this title has performed relative to expectations.

Let's go to the movies instead of buying milk!

Kim Hollis: After the financial disasters of Speed Racer and The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, we appeared to be headed for a rough summer. Given that the last three new openers have all exceeded expectations, are you feeling less doom and gloom about the recession's impact on the box office?

Max Braden: I see some highlights ahead but just as many shaky possibilities. I think the recession will continue to be reflected in the rich vs. poor results this summer.

Joel Corcoran: I think the recession will cut both ways at the box office. Going to the movies is still less expensive than a lot of other entertainment options, so people looking for an entertainment experience will still go to the multiplex. A lot of people are being forced to give up the weekend option of "dinner and a movie" and, instead, choose dinner or a movie. But people who have to tighten their budgets and more stringently prioritize spending are going to be much more discerning about where they're spending that precious discretionary income. I think we're going to see good movies continue to meet or exceed expectations, but the crappy movies are going to be harshly punished at the box office. And as long as studios continue to put out good films that people want to see in theaters, I think Hollywood will weather the recession nicely.

Tim Briody: Kim, the two examples you cited don't really fly with me. I know most of you enjoyed Speed Racer, but it was always Bad Idea Jeans in my mind and audiences agreed. Prince Caspian was a serious tactical mistake by Walden Media, by overestimating both the amount of people familiar with the books beyond The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and giving it a dumb May release date. We've got two films threatening $300 million and it's the first weekend in May. What doom and gloom?

Kim Hollis: I think we've seen it proven out over the last few weeks that well-marketed, demographically targeted films are going to do well regardless of people's financial situation at the moment. Movies still provide escape from the drudgery of the daily world, and I think that we might actually see people embrace them as a legitimate entertainment option since vacations are starting to be out of the question.

David Mumpower: The last time this subject was broached, I stated my concerns about the economy and the changing nature of movie delivery in the current marketplace. Since then, none of the titles being mentioned has surprised me save for the relatively unheralded The Strangers. Otherwise, movies have made largely what I had expected them to make. So, I'm still standing behind what I said last week and will do again next weekend after The Hulk has blown up and The Happening has bombed.

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