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Edwin Davies: The key here, especially with regard to Sandler's disastrous 2012, is that he returned to a film which was pretty popular and people were familiar with, rather than trying something different. It's surprising that Sandler has had to wait until this point in his career before making a real sequel, as opposed to just making variations on Happy Gilmore over and over, but I think it also speaks to the position he has been put in after his recent run of form. His audience won't follow him regardless of what he does - something we also demonstrated with the commercial under performance of Little Nicky many years ago - but they will if he seems to be staying in his wheelhouse, and nothing says "more of the same" than a lazy sequel.

Shalimar Sahota: In most cases, if Sandler is playing something remotely close to himself rather than a character, then people will turn up. With Grown Ups and its sequel he’s backed by additional stars to help push over a $40 million opening. Grown Ups worked its way to over $250 worldwide. Even if the sequel ends up making $200 million, it's an easy profit. Maybe someone out there is paying close attention and reworking a sequel idea to Couples Retreat.

Max Braden: I actually thought the first movie had a charming sentimentality to it. It's safe comedy, which appeals to the broadest audience. And I think getting an ensemble of comedians together was what helped it get above the $30 million tier. My guess is that Kevin James was actually the top draw, with Shaq in second place.

David Mumpower: Grown Ups 2 is the blueprint example of why so many Hollywood execs look like chumps each and every week at the box office. Audiences are fickle, unpredictable and inconsistent. All of us have tried to quantify why Grown Ups 2 has interrupted Adam Sandler's cold streak. The honest answer is that there is no logical explanation. There just isn't. Since logic is my lifeblood, this admission is incredibly frustrating to me.

Here are the facts. Ignoring the Grown Ups franchise (?), Sandler's last five live action movies have opened to an average of $23.8 million, a far cry from his heyday when he was a mortal lock for a $35-$45 million domestic debut. Even more alarming is the knowledge that Sandler's two most recent movies, That's My Boy and Jack and Jill, averaged only $19.2 million with a final domestic tally of $55 million. His career hasn't been trending downward; it is in free fall sans the comfort of a parachute.

Sandler's 11, as I once described Grown Ups as a concept, was his last $40 million live action opener. Grown Ups 2 now becomes another $40 million opener despite the fact that the first one was terrible and the world treats Adam Sandler like he was something we got on our shoe. The entire turn of events is confounding were it not for Occam's Razor.

Basically, people are inclined to like Adam Sandler and his various awkward comedian friends. The combination of them in a movie appeals to those consumers who otherwise want to give Sandler the Mussolini treatment. Despite Jack and Jill and That's My Boy, he gets a pass even though Grown Ups 2 is an unwanted sequel to a horrible movie.

I find the entire situation aggravating because about eight box office rules are being violated at once.

Kim Hollis: I truly have no idea how this happened. I saw that tracking was indicating a big opening, but I wanted to believe that audiences had wised up to the point that they would never spend their hard-earned cash on a crappy, lazy sequel. I mean, they saw the trailer where the moose urinates on Sandler, right? Because that *should* be all anyone needs to see to understand that they never, ever need to watch this movie. Ever.

The worst thing is that I really like Adam Sandler. I haven't watched his last several movies (the last one I saw was Funny People), but I truly believe he's one of the nicer guys in Hollywood. And I actually admire that he does what he wants and has been wildly successful. I just don't want to ever see Grown Ups or Grown Ups 2, and I am actually hard pressed to find anyone who actually claims to have seen either one. This opening makes no sense to me.

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