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Edwin Davies: As others have said, this is surprising considering that the film looked really quite bad, but at the same time it's easy to see why it did well being released prior to the "official" start of the blockbuster season. It's been a while since a film aimed directly at women has been out, so there was pent up demand for something that could serve as a girls' night out type of thing. It's also very rare for a film to be headlined entirely by women which doesn't also include some romantic subplot (for example: Bridesmaids was mainly about the relationship between Kristen Wiig and Maya Rudolph, but it still had Chris O'Dowd in the mix as well) so there was a novelty factor there which, along with the revenge aspect, set the film apart.

I don't expect that the film will do terribly well going forward (Bridesmaids had great reviews and word-of-mouth, which helped it become one of the leggiest comedies in recent memory, and neither of which The Other Woman has), but even a Sex and the City-style performance would leave it with a final tally north of $70 million. I'd expect it to do a touch better than that, if only because it'll be one of the only games in town for a little while, as far as overtly female-orientated films go, and so could work as counter programming for a few weeks.

Kim Hollis: I wasn’t quite expecting mid-20s for The Other Woman, but I’m not surprised by the number at all. As many have mentioned, there haven’t been any recent films targeted to a specifically female audience. Sure, there have been the romances like Endless Love, but I think we’ve seen recently that cookie cutter stuff like that has to have some kind of a hook to attract viewers. With more straightforward comedy, I think it’s easier to sell to a broader audience, and possibly get some men into theaters in the process. Sex and the City really did revolutionize the concept of “Girls’ Night Out” in the movie theater, and I do think it’s a solid marketing approach that works for the right film. The Other Woman was just such a film, and some would argue that some of its attraction is that it’s empowering for women, though I don’t really agree (they’re pretty consistently defined in relation to a dude throughout the entire film, after all).

Bruce Hall: This was an ideal weekend to open. Demographically speaking there's no real competition right now, and as has been mentioned, the closest thing to a girl-friendly major release might be Divergent, which opened in March. Women have indeed been under served lately, and the fact it took a revenge flick to remedy that seems oddly fitting.

But of course next week Spider-Man opens, so say your goodbyes to The Other Woman now.

David Mumpower: Spider-Man impacts the performance of The Other Woman about as much as the NBA playoffs do, by which I mean none at all. What I admire about The Other Woman's opening weekend performance is that there was no attempt to do too much here. Instead, a minimalist approach was taken. The advertising was infrequent enough that nobody was tired of the commercials by the time the movie was released. The publicity for the film was understated. The entire campaign felt subtle but effective and in the end, that's exactly what it proved to be. I think that a lot of people trying to sell star-driven films should study carefully the tactics employed on The Other Woman.

Max Braden: I think the plot was a big part of the success. There have probably been less successful female-'revenge' movies (though I can't recall any at the moment) but the movie this one reminds me of is 9 to 5. Though romantic comedies are often thought of as chick flicks, they still frequently feature the lead female character as someone whose life is defined by men. It's also all too infrequent to see a comedy with a mostly female cast working together rather than against each other. With movies like 9 to 5 and The Other Women, the female characters get to take charge. I'm sure that was a draw for female audiences, but of course the sexy cast is easy on the eyes for male audiences as well. This must be one of the best female-ensemble openings since Sex In the City.

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