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Max Braden: I have no idea what this movie is and how it's different from Frankenweenie or Hotel Transylvania. By that measure I figure double digits is a positive start.

Kim Hollis: It's truly about exactly what I expected to see for this film. Coraline did indeed have the Gaiman name behind it, which did mean something for its box office. There was no built-in audience for this film, and while the Olympics advertising was good, I felt like Wreck-It Ralph dominated and I wonder if there wasn't some audience confusion about the two movies. Anyway, this is a good start and I'm hearing a lot of people say they loved it, so I still have hopes for its long-term potential.

Tim Briody: I was all set to call Coraline a niche product but it earned $75 million domestically. That's actually very impressive. ParaNorman didn't exactly build off of it, though I doubt there's very much audience overlap between the two. ParaNorman has a lot of work to do to match the legs that Coraline saw, but Laika is establishing itself as a studio to watch.

What a brave corporate logo!

Kim Hollis: Sparkle, a remake of the 1976 movie, earned $11.6 million this weekend. Is this more, less, or about what you expected of the final Whitney Houston movie?

Edwin Davies: This is about what I expected, perhaps a touch more. Sparkle was compared to This Is It, the Michael Jackson concert film/documentary, which celebrated/capitalised on his death in a way that perhaps Sparkle may have for Houston. (A theater near my parents' home in Florida has been advertising this film for months now with a big picture of Houston and her birth and death dates, so it's clearly an aspect marketers are keenly aware of.) Yet I didn't think it would reach those heights since that film was solely about Jackson and his performance, whilst Houston is part of a broader ensemble in Sparkle, rather than the star. Had this been her final lead role, I could see it opening a fair bit higher, or if the hook and/or reviews got the film were stronger. As it is, this is an okay start.

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