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Tim Briody: It's hard to say much about anything Denzel Washington puts out other than he's one of the most consistent actors in the history of the box office. There's a set floor and set ceiling for his openings. He hasn't had an outright bomb in, well, ever. What's interesting here is that it's the first film he's done that screams ready-made franchise, if he wants to go that route. Maybe he's taking inspiration from Liam Neeson's career arc.

Max Braden: That's a great result for both Denzel Washington and the movie. It's the fourth best September opening on record, and the top three are comedies and horror - Hotel Transylvania, Insidious Chapter 2, and Sweet Home Alabama. It also bests Liam Neeson's $29 million opening weekend for Non-Stop at the end of February this year. That's pretty good for middle-to-late age action stars when Schwarzenegger and Stallone both struggled to get their action movies to thrive (Expendables 3 has topped out with a full run gross of less than $40 million). This is not quite as big as the $40 million opening Denzel Washington helped pull in for Safe House, but adding the two together and mentioning his nomination for Flight in the same breath provides a really strong recent filmography that he should be able to bank on for his next few projects.

Reagen Sulewski: I mean, the guy is about to turn 60, and still looks 45 at most. There's some sort of voodoo going on here both in looks but also in how he's been able to get basically anything to market that he wants, and pick the right people to compliment his style. The guy never makes a wrong move, and it's perhaps in a significant way due to him never trying to reach for the absolute highs of box office. He knows his niche and works within it perfectly.

Kim Hollis: A photo of Denzel Washington's face is in the dictionary next to the definition of "consistency." When he opens a film, you can expect it to be a solid performer. As Tim mentions, there's a ceiling and a floor for what he is able to bring to the table. The floor is so high that no matter what movie he does, you can feel confident that he's going to deliver. I think it really helped that The Equalizer looked sort of like Man on Fire 2, as that film was popular enough at the box office but really gained an audience on video.

David Mumpower: I do feel like the one thing we're under-appreciating with the Denzel Washington love-fest is the value of name recognition for the product. The Equalizer was, at one point, not only a popular show, but an often imitated one. In a way, the reboot is thematically closer to the Equalizer knock-offs than the actual television series, but it is driven by star power to the point that it opened extremely well. For me, this is what The A-Team should have been as a box office factor.

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