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Jamie Ruccio: I think this is fairly impressive. It most reminds me of "Big Fish" which opened, after a 4 week limited run, to $13.8 million. It then coased for another four to six weeks with holiday legs and weekly drops of 20% - 35% for a cumulative total of $66 million.

Adjusted for inflation, star power, and possible award consideration I could see this being very leggy as well. As mentioned by Daron, I do wonder if Aniston and Pitt had a lunch somewhere remote to cook up a promo blitz.

Scott Lumley: I really do wonder why this film cost $150 million. I realize it spans a number of historical genres, but should it cost that much?

Kim Hollis: Scott, I presume it's the various CGI needed to age and add youth to all of the various characters. As for the opening, I think this is an excellent start and adds a lot to Button's Oscar candidacy. The Academy really likes money makers. I'm not as sold on word-of-mouth yet as some others here, though. It's only 72% fresh at RottenTomatoes. I also wonder if there wasn't potentially an early rush to see it from certain David Fincher fanboys. Yes, I know that they all didn't go out and support Zodiac on opening weekend, but given that film's subject matter, $13.4 million was really quite solid. I'll be fascinated to see how it holds up as its Oscar chances rise or fall.

Nothing says Christmas like Nazis

David Mumpower: Valkyrie, the Tom Cruise drama about the plot to assassinate Hitler, earned $30 million over its first four days. Should MGM be pleased with this performance?

Scott Lumley: $30 million appears to be the baseline for the weekend. So I'm going to say that no, they shouldn't be. Why in the world are they releasing this film at Christmas? Does this really scream "holiday film" to anyone?

Eric Hughes: Well, any Jews who celebrate their Christmases at the movie theater would certainly find something to like in Valkyrie.

Joel Corcoran: I think MGM should be pleased that Valkyrie didn't completely tank. Soon after Tom Cruise and United Artists got involved, this was a project with immense risks. Problems shooting in Germany, especially with some very touchy cultural and historical considerations; Cruise's links to Scientology conflicting with the vast majority of people believing the Church of Scientology is little more than a cult; Tom Cruises own couch-jumping antics; a rogue head writer (Christopher McQuarrie) who wasn't exactly the most public advocate of the film; and some very vitriolic comments about Cruise from the real-life son of the hero of the film - Berthold Schenk von Stauffenberg, son of Claus von Stauffenberg, who Cruise portrays - all created a very volatile mix of PR problems that could've damned this film from the beginning. Yet, what emerged was a very solid thriller, a good story, and a film that may not be spectacular, but should be very successful at the end of its run. All of the MGM executives sweating over this movie all weekend probably deserve a nice week off heading into the New Year.

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