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Too many commas.

Kim Hollis: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy expanded from 57 to 809 theaters this weekend, and was rewarded with a 405% increase in box office to $5.5 million. What do you think of this result?

Edwin Davies: The short answer is that people just can't get enough of British people looking meaningfully at each other, and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy features pretty much every British person ever.

The long answer is that this is a textbook example of how to expand a film. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy has spent the last couple of weeks building up steam in limited release, garnering great reviews and solid word-of-mouth, and this expansion has come at just the right time to make more people aware of the film as awards season, which could be very kind to it, is just starting to gear up.

Bruce Hall: The only thing I can add to what Edwin just said is that it escapes me how they overlooked Michael Caine. They couldn't have at least cast him as a sympathetic cab driver/double agent who ends up slumped over his steering wheel halfway through the second act? Shameful. Positively shameful.

Max Braden: I was really surprised to see a packed theater for the mid-afternoon Sunday showing I attended. On the opposite side of the coin from the Devil Inside crowd I was imagining, I can see the fans of this cast feeling that the holiday rush was over and they finally got to see the important film they've been waiting to see. Prior to seeing Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, I was really expecting it to be among the frontrunners at the Oscars. On the other hand... I found it so slow that I napped twice and was still able to follow the story. I expect this will be a love-it or hate-it title, and will stall at this level of expansion, especially since I don't expect it to have a presence at the Oscars.

Brett Beach: Contrary to Max, I think this may be the film that gets suprisingly more Oscar nods than anyone expects. However, as much as it pains me to consider this, I am surprised to hear all the talk about Gary Oldman's performance as a) I don't think it was a lead (truth be told, I don't think there any leads in the cast) and b) there were several performances better than his. The final tally of this will rest on Oscar nominations. It has worked the slow but steady expansion as well as any film can and this past weekend was a smashing success on that front.

Reagen Sulewski: Really, it's a situation where everyone looked around and said, "What the hell? Oldman doesn't have an Oscar nomination yet? We'd better fix that right damn now." But yes, this is some pretty old-school classic expansion behavior and it's performing quite nicely.

David Mumpower: Given the precise but methodical pacing of the movie, I never expected to earn a significant amount at the box office. Its current pattern indicates receipts north of $30 million and that number could bump up higher if there are a lot of Oscar nominations in the offing. This borders on being a miraculous performance barring anything unforeseen.

Afterthought.

Kim Hollis: The Darkest Hour, a Christmas Day horror release that has done pretty terribly so far, held up pretty decently this weekend as it fell 25% to $3.1 million. Its total to date is $19.3 million. What do you think of this result?

Edwin Davies: It held well because it was starting from a pretty terrible place. This has been a disaster from day one, and I don't see things getting better over the next couple of weeks. If the film makes back its $30 million budget I will be very surprised.

Max Braden: I had seen a trailer but I had just assumed this was a direct-to-video title. Considering that obstacle, $19 million isn't too bad. It's like some wispy demon snuck up and picked the pockets of some theater-goers who were there to see something else that was sold out.

Brett Beach: It's a win for a film that would have struggled to get to Jonah Hex or MacGruber numbers any other time of year. Those of us who have no plans to ever see it can remain in wonder about Emile Hirsch's presence.

Reagen Sulewski: Summit is very, very lucky they locked up the Twilight franchise.

David Mumpower: The performance of The Darkest Hour felt like a strong indictment of cheap horror movies right up until The Devil Inside exploded. So, the existence of that film steps on the point I want to make. Then again, The Devil Inside is already down to fourth place after five days in theaters; ergo, I'm ready to write that off as short term mass delusion.

Tim Briody: Reagen is right. I think Summit is just trolling audiences with all their non-Twilight films. Good thing that's a never ending money train. Oh, wait.

David Mumpower: This is exactly why I do not understand why Lionsgate is trying to buy Summit Entertainment now. There is only one Twilight left. It's like trying to trade for Peyton Manning today instead of three seasons ago.

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