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Mmmm...apples.

Kim Hollis: Snow White and the Huntsman opened to $56.2 million. What do you think of this result?

Bruce Hall: (sigh) Well, I guess this Kristen Stewart thing isn't about to blow over. That's a subjective assessment of course, but I am comfortable saying that she is at present the best known name on the marquee to most moviegoers. That has to count for something. It also doesn't hurt to be the only significant new release this week. Or that Men in Black 3 has petered out, Battleship is a non-factor and everyone's already seen The Avengers twice.

But I think it's also significant that there was no 3D version to factor in. Surprisingly, almost half its audience was male. And while I doubt many people were specifically fired up to see Kristen Stewart don a suit of armor and imitate Kate Beckinsale, they showed up anyway. No doubt, Snow White and the Huntsman had quite an uphill battle to open as well as it did. I'm impressed, but considering how much this film reportedly cost it's going to need more than one or two good weeks before anybody at Universal needs to head downtown and order bottle service. Still, this certainly helps to soothe the massive gaping wound that was Battleship.

Tony Kollath: It's about where I was expecting heading into the weekend, though a good bit higher than I'd have thought a few months ago. I was really surprised at the PR saturation bombing for this film in the last few weeks. I'd see several spots on TV a day, and during surprising shows at that, like the NBA finals. Given the advertising blitz, I have to wonder if the studio wasn't expecting an opener of closer to $100 million.

Matthew Huntley: I'm with Tony on this one, as I was expecting an opening closer to $35-40 million. However, I guess its actual numbers make sense when you consider the first trailer for Snow White and Huntsman was way back in 2011, which allowed for plenty of buzz and excitement to grow. But, as Bruce alluded to, the film has a fairly steep uphill climb if it wants to show a profit, not only because of its hefty production budget (reported at $170 million), but also because its internal multiplier was rather low. And with a different studio tent pole picture coming out every weekend from now until the end of the summer, this one will no longer have any time all to itself. I can see it eventually crossing $150 million domestically, and adding another $300 internationally, which should be enough to keep the Universal execs happy. In any event, I'm sure we'll see more "classic fairy tale" stories like Snow White and Alice in Wonderland green-lit.

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