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David Mumpower: I agree with Kim that The Lone Ranger is Jonah Hex II without Depp. Still, his presence in the cast only did for this would-be tenetpole title what Depp did for Secret Window as Edwin mentioned. He boosted the gate some but his presence paid for the sales tax on the project. Disney is footing the bill for the rest and the mark-up on The Lone Ranger is a *bitch*.

I have never lined up on Edwin with regards to Depp as the number one star in the world. We have debated this before, and our opinions are established. He credits Depp for Sparrow and believes that the other titles are fallout from that role. I am of the opinion that Tim Burton needs Johnny Depp more than the inverse. Alice in Wonderland and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory tore up the box office because of Depp, not Burton. For a time, he was undeniably the number one box office draw in the world in my estimation.

What this past week confirmed for me is what we had all suggested as a possibility in the days leading up to the release of The Avengers. Robert Downey Jr.'s career can be quantified as better at the moment (thanks for the data points, Daron). Depp is still a draw, of course, but he needs to be pushing Pirates of the Caribbean 5. And that script needs to be brilliant. Then again, the best solution would be for Depp and Downey Jr. to do a buddy movie. Cha-ching.

Kim Hollis: The comedy concert movie Kevin Hart: Let Me Explain opened to $10.1 million from Friday-to-Sunday and an awesome $17.5 million since Wednesday. Its budget was $750,000. How did this happen?

Jay Barney: If Despicable Me hadn’t opened so huge, and Lone Ranger started so poorly, this might be the story of the weekend. This really wasn’t on anybody’s radar screen and it is by far the most profitable venture of the weekend. I don’t know about the “true” cost associated with this type project, let’s double…triple….quadruple the $750,000 it took to put this together, and Lionsgate/Summit still has an enormous money producer in their laps.

If Universal has ruled the summer, it looks like Lionsgate gets an honorable mention over the long term. They have had a pretty successful run recently. Within the last 18 months they have had Hunger Games and Breaking Dawn Part 2, both massive hits. The Possession was brought to theaters for peanuts and it brought in $85 million worldwide. The same for Sinister. In 2013 they started out with Warm Bodies. That was made for $35 million and took in a respectable $116 million worldwide. Snitch made them a little money. There were early summer/late spring mis-steps with Tyler Perry’s Temptation and the Big Wedding. They have recovered nicely with their last two outings. Now You See Me is one of the surprise success stories so far, and Kevin Hart: Let Me Explain is going to be a money tree for them.

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