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Kim Hollis: Dolphin Tale 2, a sequel to the warmly-received family film from 2011, earned $15.9 million. What do you think about this result?

Brett Ballard-Beach: This is squarely a win as far as I am concerned. For comparison's sake, consider that 1995's Free Willy 2: The Voyage Home, also from Warner Bros and with similar themes, opened with $7 million and finished with only $30 million - a 62% drop after 1993's Free Willy, which debuted with $8 million and racked up $78 million (about what Dolphin Tale made). Dolphin Tale 2 is also a sequel that isn't really necessary and nobody was really asking for. However, the studio kept the same director, the entire lead cast, and even a near equivalent budget, and it only finished its first weekend at about $3 million less. This is probably accounted for by the fact that the sequel is not in 3D as the first one was. The Rotten Tomatoes score and the Cinemascore are both a little under the first one but the general consensus seems to be that for a pure money grab, this was done with as much tact and warmth and humanity as could be asked for and I imagine a lot of the same crowd that kept the first one percolating for a couple of months will make up their minds to do so here as well.

Edwin Davies: This is a perfectly acceptable result for a film that no one really seemed to be asking for. The first one was a well-liked, modest hit, but not the sort of thing people were really exuberant about, and a sequel could easily have disappeared without trace. By keeping so many of the core people around and maintaining the quality, they were able to hold on to the audience that liked the first film and, much like No Good Deed, were able to capitalize on a period in which there haven't been many options for families, and the ones that have been out there have been pretty dark and/or violent. Something light like this makes a stark contrast to TMNT.

Jason Barney: This one is not going to make the same money as the original, but I think it has a decent chance of earning a profit before all is said and done. If it plays anything like the original, the solid holds will be there, and the international money should help quite a bit. This is not going to be an instant success. It has some work to do, but when all is said and done I would expect it won't lose money.

Felix Quinonez: This is perfectly fine. The first was a decent sized hit but it didn't exactly stay on the public's minds. This is practically the definition of "unnecessary sequel" and it still managed to open in the same ball park as the first one. Not only that but it actually has good reviews and an "A" cinema score. So it hold pretty well over the next few weeks and see some profit.

Max Braden: I have to object to such a movie being released in September. The summer's over! It was snowing in South Dakota last week! No more water movies! I mean, maybe if it was "Dolphin Sharks 2" it could be released in August. But I wonder if this movie could have made a little more if it had been released in June right after school let out. On the other hand, then kids would have been off seeing How to Train Your Dragon 2, so maybe counter programming this weekend was the right idea after all. I still object.

Kim Hollis: I think this is a solid result, and frankly I'm a little surprised that there were that many people who were excited enough to go see this movie in a theater on opening weekend. What it has going for it is that it's a good-natured, well-intended project that is unobjectionable for families. An A Cinemascore tells us that people are responding positively to the movie, and it should play well in the coming weeks as there isn't much else for kids (The Box Trolls is coming, but Laika isn't known for huge box office).

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