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Brett Ballard-Beach: Has Tom Cruise found his new Tony Scott? (Actually, I'm not even sure what that means but it's a nice lead-in.) He and Christopher McQuarrie sound like they might have a solid partnership going forth and a decent hit off a modest-sized budget. Cruise is at the age where they aren't all going to be $200 million hits and this helps keep him in the (positive) public eye. With cast members from Duvall to Herzog, it sounds like the only thing it's missing is Sarah Silverman talking trash in a parking lot and getting punched in the face (Or does it have that too?).

And Bruce... there are Jack Reacher fanboys? They can say that name with a straight face? More power to 'em.

Edwin Davies: This is a pretty solid result for a pretty solid thriller. The film itself is unlikely to go down as a classic of the genre, but it's a very well put together detective story with an engaging central performance from Cruise which probably benefited more from his presence than from the popularity of the books, considering how vocal some people have been about his casting. Without the franchise appeal of Mission: Impossible, it was never going to top Cruise's last Christmas outing, but it proves that people like to see him in these kinds of films (as opposed to awful, awful musicals).

David Mumpower: This is almost a duplication of Valkyrie. I am not as bullish on the film as the rest of you as I believe there is some money left on the table here. An army cop action hero is a brilliant idea for a franchise. What we are witnessing is not a franchise launch of note, which makes this a modest hit one-off film rather than a viable platform launch.

Kim Hollis: This Is 40, the not-quite sequel to Knocked Up, grossed $8.4 million this weekend and has a running total of $54.3 million. In your estimation, is this a good enough result for a $35 million production?

Felix Quinonez: I think when you just compare its performance to its budget This Is 40 is doing exceptionally well. Once it closes with around $70 million domestically it will have doubled its budget, which is great news. But once you take into account the fact that this has had a pretty big marketing push, its relationship to Knocked Up, and the fact that Judd Apatow is in a serious need of a hit, this seems a bit disappointing. The movie is certainly not a bomb but no one's career will be (re)ignited by it either.

Jay Barney: I'd have to say this is great news for Universal and it continues a small trend of success that takes the stink off from the early summer box office. Universal's biggest hit of the year was Ted, which did make them a lot of money. They spent $50 million and brought home over four times that much. Les Miserables is doing great, but aside from Ted, their track record has been close to just treading water during the second half of 2012. The Lorax was a hit for them, but that was all the way back in March. Snow White and the Huntsman had to rely on foreign receipts for it to be profitable. The Bourne Legacy was a bit of a letdown. Battleship bombed big time.

For This Is 40 to potentially earn $70 million against a budget of $35 million... that is great news for Universal.

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