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My primary concern moving forward is whether superhero fatigue becomes an issue. Every Marvel superhero has to distinguish itself in a way that differentiates from the rest. In addition, the recently announced Netflix quartet of Marvel adaptations will add to the ubiquity of the product, thereby reducing the specialness of the current release strategy of 1-2 movies a year. Marvel becomes its own enemy in this regard as each of its licenses needs room to breathe. I am reminded of where Pixar stood on the heels of Up, Wall-E and Toy Story 3. Nobody believed they could ever fail but then the reviews for Cars 2, Brave and Monsters University all indicated that the expectations for Pixar titles had been raised so high that ordinary felt wildly insufficient. Marvel is about to start fighting that war and I am concerned because Agents of Shield could be the first victim of it.

Kim Hollis: At this very moment, the Marvel universe is the one of the healthiest franchises/pop culture items available for consumption. It has a fan base that stretches across multiple generations and is incredibly easy to market both for films and for toys. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. would appear to be the first indication of weakness, but I also question whether people understand how it fits in. Not everyone is familiar with the comics and all those characters, after all. I think if they can sustain momentum as kids start to age out and find other shiny things, it could last for a good long time. Then again, even Star Wars has only been in theaters six times up to now.


Kim Hollis: About Time, the latest rom-com from Love Actually director Richard Curtis, expanded to 1,200 venues this weekend and took in $4.8 million. What do you think of this result?



Edwin Davies: This is perfectly fine. The reviews haven't been especially rapturous, but it's an appealing looking film with an intriguing premise, which should be good for a final tally in the $20 million plus range. Curtis' films have never been reliant on the US for their big money, with even things like Notting Hill being far bigger hits internationally, and I can see the same pattern repeating here, albeit on a smaller scale.

Brett Ballard-Beach: I have to confess, the decision to open on 175 screens last weekend always struck me as odd. (Love Actually employed a similar strategy, although that opened at nearly 600 screens and had about 20 recognizable faces among its cast). But then again, this project has struck me as odd since I read the two sentence synopsis months ago. The warmer fuzzier version of The Time Traveler's Wife meets Groundhog Day… with a British accent. I give Richard Curtis an incredible amount of goodwill (although nothing he has written has ever topped The Tall Guy, with Notting Hill second) but a $5 million opening weekend on a muted 1,200 screens here seems best case scenario. I have no ideas on legs, but see this topping out at $20-$25 million here. With a low budget and $40 million overseas, it's not a loss, but it is a curious and quiet note for Curtis to (supposedly) end his directing career with. But it could have been worse. It could have ended with Pirate Radio.

Felix Quinonez Jr.: I think it's perfectly fine. There didn't seem to be a lot of buzz going for this movie and the reviews aren't great. I think its low budget will keep it from being a money loser and it won't hurt anyone's career.

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