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Max Braden: Was this book actually read to children? I'm thinking the audience skewed a little older.

David Mumpower: I don't have the splits for the film yet but anecdotally, our audience was almost exclusively families with children.

Kim Hollis: I would certainly call it a children's book, but Gaiman fans tend to read all of his stuff regardless of intended age target. I think we sometimes forget that kids like to be thrilled and scared. Goosebumps was a huge series and as a child, I was sort of obsessed with movie monsters like the Werewolf, Dracula and especially the Creature from the Black Lagoon. And I think we can all agree that Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory is creepy. I saw it in the theater way back in the 1970s (I'm old) and I loved it then and still do. I think Coraline - both the book and the movie - work on a similar level for a variety of ages. It's up to parents to decide if their child can handle it.

Scott Lumley: I noticed trailers in my area were strongly pushing the Nightmare Before Christmas connection, but to the best of my knowledge, Tim Burton is not involved directly with this film. If there are some people in his production company involved with this film, then by all means they were wise to invoke it. I know that any reference at all to Tim Burton seems to generate a lot of goodwill in segments of the movie going public. Exactly how much of a bump this film got from the Nightmare association is up for debate, but I really do feel there was some smart marketing for Coraline in that regard.

Kim Hollis: The Nightmare Before Christmas connection is not Tim Burton. The connection is that they share the same director, Henry Selick. It seems to be a pretty common misconception that Burton directed The Nightmare Before Christmas, and it's seeping over to Coraline now. Poor Henry.

Jason Lee: I'd like to point out, though, that neither David nor Reagan called for an opening higher than $10.4 mil (in their February and weekend forecast, respectively). A $13.4 opening and even a 3-D inflated $16.8 mil opening is a big win for Focus Features.

Incidentally, I have my fingers crossed that the 2010 Oscar noms for Best Animated feature will be a combination of Stop Motion (Coraline), hand-drawn animation (Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea by the genius Hayao Miyazaki) and Up (by Pixar).

Kim Hollis: Jason, if that happens, I might be the happiest girl ever.

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