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Kim Hollis: 22 Jump Street, the sequel to the highly successful 21 Jump Street, debuted with $57.1 million this weekend. What do you think of this result?

Edwin Davies: This is an excellent result all round. It represents a big jump from the first film, which is something you'd hope to see from a sequel to a popular, well-reviewed original, and while there was a bit of front-loading with the Thursday night screenings, there wasn't a huge amount of difference between the "true" Friday and Saturday, which suggests that the film might have good legs going forward just like its predecessor. I'm not sure if it could match the longevity of 21 Jump Street with that big a debut - the first one had an opening to closing ratio of 3.81, and if 22 Jump Street managed that it would wind up with around $215 million. Even if it doesn't manage that, $150 million seems a pretty safe bet, and it should improve hugely on the original's overseas total of $63.1 million (it's already earned over $20 million).

As far as why it opened so well, I think that lies mainly in the goodwill generated by the first, coupled with a relatively short gap of two years between the films. During that time, Jonah Hill notched up another Oscar nomination (in a successful R-rated comedy, no less) and Channing Tatum continued to be a big star. It also probably helps that Neighbors is still going fairly strong, and we often see that if a particular type of film succeeds, it can create demand for more of that kind of film. Having a huge R-rated comedy come along, get people excited for it, then fade away so that it's not really competing for the same audience could have created an even better environment for 22 Jump Street, which already had plenty of advantages.

Brett Ballard-Beach: With the second highest debut ever for an R-rated comedy (after The Hangover Part II) and the fact that critics and audiences seem to be enjoying it at least as much as the first one), this opening can not be overstated in its success.

Felix Quinonez: I think this is one of the somewhat rare cases where you can call the opening weekend a huge win without any qualifiers. The budget was modest by Hollywood standards, so that doesn't put any sort of damper on the results. And the reviews and audience reaction were great so the the movie has a legitimate chance of strong legs. This is a big win for everyone involved and another sequel definitely seems to be in the cards.

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