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Edwin Davies: As I said about Big Hero 6, I think this is a great result considering that two huge films opened on the same weekend. It could be argued that the two films don't share the same audience, but I'd say that the PG-13 rating for Interstellar and its emphasis on spectacle probably means that there is a decent overlap between the two films since they would both appeal to adolescent kids interested in sci-fi and cool visuals. Add in its divisive nature and I think that Interstellar will benefit from people wanting to check it out in the weeks ahead.

Could it have done better? Probably. While I admire Nolan's insistence of allowing the film to open on a small number of screens a few days in advance in order to support theaters that could project it on 35mm and 70mm film, it did siphon off some of the money that would have otherwise been added to its weekend total. Also, it kicked off the conversation about the film and its positives and negatives a few days early, and the negative responses from the detractors could have made some people decide to hold off seeing it for a while. I don't think either factor would have allowed it to win the weekend, but it could have allowed it to finish much closer to Big Hero 6.

On the other hand, there is so much working against Interstellar which would have doomed a similar film by almost any other director. It's really long, the ads weren't that forthcoming when it came to the story, and it lacked the sort of clear hook that tends to anchor the ads for Nolan's movies (think of the folding city in Inception, or "Why so serious?" in the ads for The Dark Knight). Interstellar is the first Christopher Nolan film since Insomnia not to open at #1 in the US, which I think is a sign of just how consistent he has been at delivering films that chime with a big audience. That gives us certain expectations of him, and probably inflated expectations for a film that would not have had a chance in hell of getting close to $50 million if it was made by anyone else. This is a great opening, one which, coupled with the strong international debut, should set this up as another hit that only Christopher Nolan could deliver.

Bruce Hall: Christopher Nolan is a "prestige" director (pun intended) whose name, to some degree, is known even to casual moviegoers. He is known as an uncompromising storyteller with a tremendous respect for both the medium and his audience. I don't think it's hyperbole to say that his name means "Quality" to a lot of people.

Interstellar opened slightly south of Alfonso Cuaron's Gravity - another well regarded, PG-13 sci-fi thriller for grown ups. It's not a perfect comparison, of course, but my point is similar to what's been made here already: If most other directors opened a $165 million dollar movie to a five day total of $52 million, the resulting media yukfest would push Ebola and ISIS right off the front page.

But this morning, geeks and casual moviegoers alike seem to have nice things to say about Interstellar, and I think everyone expects it to have legs beyond this week. I'm not sure it's going to be in the awards conversation but it goes to show you that Zack Snyder notwithstanding, the age of the superstar director is apparently far from over.

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