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Matthew Huntley: I'd say it's pretty "strong" (no pun intended) given the movie's low $12.5 million budget. I know a lot of critics didn't like this movie, but I did, and so far everyone I've talked to only has good (but not great) things to say about it. I think word-of-mouth will be decent, and perhaps good enough to put the movie around $25 million in total, which isn't bad. Josh is right that the figures are nothing to write home about, but they're far from disastrous. Call it a mid-level opening.

Follow-up question: Does anyone think this movie will take home the Oscar for Best Song by default? What other ones stood out from last year?

Bruce Hall: To say that I am anything but a country fan would be an understatement. But I have to agree that given its budget and the limited appeal of the material, this is an acceptable result. I don't know if it will live up to the preliminary Oscar buzz but Gwyneth Paltrow is tremendously gifted and adorable - and in case you haven't noticed this makes not one but two Garrett Hedlund vehicles in the top ten.

So clearly, anything is possible.

Edwin Davies: To me, this film is to Crazy Heart what Secretariat was to The Blind Side; both are pretty blatant attempts to replicate the success of other films, but neither will actually manage to do so. Still, like Secretariat, Country Strong will probably make its money back and be a minor hit, but not to the same extent. Also, the lack of any kind of critical support for the film suggests that Gwynnie isn't going to be picking up Oscar number two on February 27th.

Matthew, I think that Tangled has more than its fair share of great songs, so Country Strong will have a fight on its hands for the Best Song Oscar.

Michael Lynderey: It would seem to me that Country Strong was originally intended as a leggy Oscar-driven drama (though I could be wrong). If that's the level, then it has not succeeded. If the movie was just meant to see how strong the country music base is at the mainstream box office, then it probably isn't all that impressive either ($20 million total seems right). All-in-all, it's going to end up seen as a middle of the road (no pun) vehicle for its stars, and on that note, I'd like to point out how much better this would have worked had Nicolas Cage been cast in the Tim McGraw role. I mean, c'mon.

Michael Lynderey: By the way, is it just me or is Black Swan making one hundred million dollars? I mean, jezzz!

Reagen Sulewski: The Oscar talk for this film always struck me as a lot of wishful thinking. Sure you have Paltrow, and anything can happen at Oscar time (see: Mark Wahlberg, Oscar nominee), but it never for a second looked like the depth was there, nor the mass appeal that might have forced voters hands. The generic title doesn't help matters much either, and really only sold to the already convinced. Opening in 1,400 theaters was their last concession to this. Still, good job on realizing their limitations and not overextending themselves.

David Mumpower: This movie always struck me as Country Duets and given what a disastrous project that was, it was difficult for me to envision Country Strong succeeding. I agree with Mr. Huntley that relative to budget, this has to be considered a small scale triumph. It will also be a safe family film choice on home video, making this project an unexpected winner.

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