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Bruce Hall: On the one hand, I think this is a terrific opening. Considering the thoroughly mediocre vibe the Green Lantern has been giving off leading up to release, I don't think anybody here would have been shocked if this result was $10 million less. Considering how thoroughly mediocre the movie actually IS, people should be swinging from the rafters over at Warner's. But let's be real. Depending on who you ask, this movie cost anywhere from $150-200 million just to make, let alone market. As Brett suggested it looks like a long shot to make that back unless lot of people ignore my advice and eventually buy this thing on DVD and Blu-Ray. This is a classic example of simply beating low expectations. Everyone's going to keep their job, but it's hard to imagine anyone being excited about a sequel.

Tom Houseman: The real question is who decided to green light (Ha! Green light! Cause that's what this movie is about!) this movie with a $200 million budget. Granted, it showed in the final project, as the special effects were grandiose and very impressive, but considering the limited public awareness of the character, all this movie has going for it is the draw of Ryan Reynolds and the gossip girl. Well, for me the main draw was Peter Sarsgaard, whom I love with a fiery passion. Green light... hilarious.

Shalimar Sahota: With the early negative backlash after that first trailer and then trickle of negative reviews, my estimates for opening weekend were lowered to under $40 million. To see it opening at over $50 million is a surprise. I also think that the good work done by Marvel's films Thor and X-Men: First Class may have rubbed off on audiences who wouldn't know any better. These high openings have also set a precedent for Captain America. Green Lantern's opening is good (the marketing blitz has been huge), and Warner Bros will be happy for the next seven days. I think Edwin is spot on about it losing those 3D screens over the coming weeks, and I imagine the subsequent drops are going to be huge.

Reagen Sulewski: I'd be curious to see the splits on 3D vs 2D for this, as even the terrible reviews said the 3D was decent (Editor’s note: 45% of Green Lantern’s opening weekend ticket sales were accrued in 3D distribution). If there was a huge proportion of the audience paying the 3D price, that could make the difference between $40 and $50 million. I'd call that cold comfort, though, since with $325 million laid out between budget and P&A, this is going to have a hell of a time making back even close to that.

I think DC and Warners overestimated the public's familiarity with Green Lantern, and after that made a terrible movie that's most enjoyable to 12-year-olds. They should have a "cat that ate the canary" grin after this weekend, despite the fact they're going to lose a bunch of money. It could have been much, much worse.

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