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Kim Hollis: The Heat, a buddy cop movie featuring the combined talents of Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy, opened to $39.1 million, thereby becoming the best debut weekend of Bullock's career. What do you think of this result?

Jason Barney: As David outlined in the Friday analysis and Tom Briody did in the Weekend Wrap-Up, this is about as good of an opening that The Heat could have had. I am not suggesting the numbers should have been higher; quite the contrary. The stars aligned nicely for this film and I think the results will be quite positive well beyond this weekend. Sandra Bullock has demonstrated that she is still near the top of her box office appeal. Melissa McCarthy is no longer a newcomer, but her star is definitely still rising. The combination of these two in a film that has broader appeal than superheroes or aliens worked well; you have to applaud the counter-programming. The early summer had only one real success story even remotely marketed toward women, and that was The Great Gatsby. The Big Wedding failed miserably, and there has been a void of any attempt to attract female movie goers. The Heat’s $43 million budget ensures this is going to be a big hit for Fox. The true budget number is probably a little higher, but still, with the 4th of July looming, The Heat will have a great hold for week number two.

Max Braden: Although it seems like most of the credit for this opening number should go to Sandra Bullock, since this basically gave audiences a chance to see an unofficial Miss Congeniality 3, I wouldn't discount McCarthy. She had a similar wacky pairing with Jason Bateman in Identity Thief, which had a $34 million opening weekend in February. I'd even say that if Bullock were paired with another actress, they might not have been able to make the $39 million. The pairing of the two was very smart. I think it helps Bullock that she's generally riding a wave of national public fandom (and her Oscar win for The Blind Side) that helps us forget things like All About Steve.

Bruce Hall: I think that people love Melissa McCarthy, and anyone who forgot how much they loved Sandra Bullock was reminded of it when they heard she was going to be in a film with Melissa McCarthy. I think not only is this Bullock's biggest opening ever, but it continues a very lucrative year for McCarthy, as this will quickly become the third $100 million plus film for her this year. Suddenly, we have a "strike while the iron is hot" situation on our hands. Don't be shocked to see something else featuring these two greenlit very soon.

The big question this week wasn't who would be number one, but who would be number two. Did audiences want to laugh, or just to laugh at Channing Tatum blowing up the White House in a tank top? It appears America has spoken.

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