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Someday, the movie Grumpy Old Hangovers will hit theaters...

Kim Hollis: The Hangover Part II had a blistering five-day total of $135 million. What do you believe is the key to this historic opening weekend for a live-action comedy?

Edwin Davies: It's hard to say what specifically allowed The Hangover Part II to do this (in all honesty, I'm struggling to take in just how well it's done so far) but it'd be remiss of us not to point out just what a phenomenon the first Hangover was. It was a film with no expectations and starring no one which managed to turn a simple premise and a killer trailer into a $45 million opening and $277 million domestic total. With that sort of a start to the franchise, demand for a sequel was always going to be high.

I've also been wondering if part of the success might be due to the fact that none of the principle cast became over-exposed as a result of the first one, so people haven't had time to get sick of them. They've all been in films subsequently, but I personally haven't felt like any of them have been ubiquitous, so the thought of spending time with them again is still an appealing thought to people.

Joshua Pasch: On the surface this is question is simple enough to answer. The sequel to the one of the biggest comedies ever should potentially open as the biggest comedy ever. But this opening is truly epic in size and it really hits home just how beloved that first Hangover trip was.

The success of this picture is the hook of spending more time with these three friend/non-friends again. Box office history is littered with the failures of comedy sequels, but The Hangover featured the appeal of an unlikely combination of characters coming together, and just one trip with them wasn't enough. Hangover Part I is the type of movie you can have on all the time. You watched it two or thrree times out of the gate, and now whenever it's on TV you can leave it playing while you do your laundry, reading a magazine, or have friends over with it playing in the background. I know I'm not alone in this. When you're that happy to hang out with Stu, Allen, and Phil, going on another trip with them to a new location was a no brainer for most moviegoers. Reviews be damned, we just want to hang out with the wolfpack again.

Matthew Huntley: I agree with Josh the reason The Hangover Part II opened so huge was because of the affection millions of people had for the original, but I doubt that same love will be shown toward The Hangover Part III, at least I hope it won't. This first sequel in what is sure to be an extended franchise was a real disappointment, and based on the reactions of people leaving the theater, I'm surprised the movie held up as well as it did over the weekend. If there is any justice, it will collapse by 60%+ in the wake of X-Men: First Class.

My own thoughts aside, Warner Bros. was smart to get a sequel out so soon after the original. The first one was still fresh in people's minds and fans wanted to relive the same experience as soon as possible (hence why Part II is more or less a carbon copy of Part I). The other reason would be that action movies have ruled theaters for the past five weekends and, aside from Bridesmaids, audiences simply wanted a different kind of mindlessness to entertain them over the long weekend. With a saturation release, and WB promoting it as an event movie, The Hangover Part II was the only choice.

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