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Tom Macy: I'm a little surprised it didn't do better. It's a brand name, albeit a slightly obscure one, that's an animated film with no real kids movie competition. There were certainly enough venues. It reminds me a little bit of Valiant. Remember that? Exactly. It had a similar budget, around $40 million. It didn't have a ton of competition in the animated department, and this was when releasing a CGI kids movie was like pushing a button an getting an automatic $100 million. Hmm, that's not a bad idea for a movie premise. Yeah, maybe Frank Langella could be in it with part of his face missing! Ah, dammit! Richard Kelly totally beat me to it. Anyways, I think Summit may have underestimated how recognizable the name was. I had heard of Astro Boy but I didn't know what it derived from. Also, the trailer seemed to focus a lot on the action, which may have scared off some parents worrying about the violence factor. But it was clearly targeted at kids. No one was seeing this without someone taller that 4'2" in tow. So there was a little too much straddling of the fence. Perhaps things would have gone better if Summit just played it safe and rolled out some fart jokes.

George Rose: I'm surprised it earned less than the Toy Story 1 & 2 re-release but not at all surprised it failed to reach the heights of Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs. That movie was a wonderful surprise. Maybe Summit should have spent less money filling every store at the mall with The Twilight Saga: New Moom merchandise and more money making Astro Boy a 3D event.

Jason Lee: This movie just felt retro (and not in a fun "Christina Aguilera does big band music" sort of way) from the outset. The animation looked slickly-old, the character feels like a throwback to an ancient era, and the commercials/trailers really felt like they were aiming at a super young audience. This was going to be a tough sell no matter what.

Pete Kilmer: No one (and I'm generalizing) in the mass market under 45 has ever heard of Astro Boy. So there was zero interest by the kids to see it. No doubt Astro Boy has a storied legacy outside the US.

Their big problem? Who wants to see a movie about a vampire's assistant? I mean, does he send the guy's faxes? Answer his phones? Take in his laundry?

Kim Hollis: Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant opened to only $6.3 million in 2,754 locations. What went wrong here for Universal?

Tom Macy: Umm, everything. I hate it when I just feel embarrassmed for actors. Sometimes it's because they're miscast, like Brad Pitt in Troy. Or they're just plain awful, like Brad Pitt in Troy. But the worst is when it's an actor I really respect and admire. John C. Reilly, dude. What's going on up there? The tone of the trailer was all over the place. Is this supposed to be funny? Scary? I'm sure Universal will say both, but you need to pick a direction. Instead of looking funny and scary it just looked boring and stupid. And last time I checked, boring, stupid movies are not exactly what's in these days.

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