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Kim Hollis: Where do you think The Purge ranks amongst the biggest successes of 2013?

Jason Barney: If you do the numbers, The Purge is probably the biggest success of the year, by far. Something like Iron Man 3 cost about $200 million to make, but there are a lot of other costs involved. The true numbers are many millions more with advertising costs, etc. Iron Man 3 has pulled in $1.2 billion worldwide, which is great, but what film wouldn’t want what The Purge has accomplished? A $3 million investment, with whatever the marketing costs, pulling in around $35 million in its first three days? The holds probably aren’t going to be great, but at this point The Purge is a HUGE success.

I think it is safe to crown Universal the king of the 2013 box office at this point. They didn’t need to put much effort into the re-release of Jurassic Park 3D, and they made a lot of money on that. They cast Tom Cruise in Oblivion and despite its weakness in the U.S. it has made $275 million globally. Identity Thief was an early hit for them this year. We all know what Fast and Furious 6 has accomplished. The $3 million they put into this project is going to pay for itself in droves. They still have Despicable Me 2 over the coveted July 4th frame. It almost doesn’t matter what happens with RIPD, 2 Guns, or Kick-Ass 2. Every project thus far has been successful.

Edwin Davies: It has to rank as one of the biggest, both in terms of investment to profit (thanks to the midnight screenings it had covered its production costs before any Friday screenings had even occurred) and in terms of the surprise factor. There have been plenty of surprises at the box office this year, but they've mainly been cases of a film that people expected to do well doing slightly better than expected (see: Iron Man 3) or, more often, films under-performing horribly (A Good Day to Die Hard, After Earth, Gangster Squad, The Host...) so to see a film blow away expectations so spectacularly, earning almost double what most people were predicting, is huge news. That the film is already seeing pure, unadulterated profit after three days is a truly rare thing indeed.

Max Braden: I still think The Great Gatsby holds the top spot. A genre film like The Purge can break out every now and then, but still, this was unexpected. For the opening weekend, I might put it between Gatsby and Iron Man 3. If the long term box office doesn't hold, it will be more and more a flash in the pan.

Tim Briody: I'm pretty sure it's locked up the box office relative to budget championship for the year, and if it doesn't completely fall through the floor after this weekend, stands to make $100 million and be one of the year's bigger stories.

David Mumpower: I was prepared to describe it as the biggest hit of the year but Max's argument gave me pause. The Purge is unquestionably the best performer relative to financial outlay, which is the most important aspect when evaluating box office. Having acknowledged that, we witnessed a relatively similar phenomenon with Paranormal Activity. That film's triumph lessens the impact of The Purge for me, at least somewhat. The Great Gatsby was almost wholly dismissed prior to its release. No theatrical adaptation of that particular novel should earn $150 million domestically. After careful consideration, I still side with The Purge because The Great Gatsby required a $100+ million financial outlay. It *should* do that sort of box office in theory. This particular title simply happened to be a terrible gamble that paid off.

Kim Hollis: I agree that it's going to be one of the big success stories of the year. Relative to pure profit it's going to be right up there as possibly the biggest. It doesn't even matter if it doesn't hold up this weekend (and let's face it. Horror movies just don't do that). The Purge has exceeded expectations by so much that almost everything is gravy from here on out.

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