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Max Braden: Diversifying could equate to diluting the brand. If an actor primarily associated with G-rated material starts doing adult fare they could find themselves out of sight and out of mind of their core audience while struggling to gain the respect of new audiences. I think if either of them succeeds at branching out, it's going to be Miley Cyrus because she's secured more direct name recognition. It wouldn't surprise me to hear comments like "Zac who?" in a few years. He just doesn't strike me as having an identifiable personality.

Reagen Sulewski: I think the key for both of them is to not return calls from Dina Lohan.

Mall cop movies are so three months ago.

Kim Hollis: Observe and Report opened to $11 million. Why do you think this Seth Rogen film failed to captivate mall cop fans throughout North America?





Josh Spiegel: Well, plenty of those mall cop fans were probably hoping for a family-friendly picture, and Observe and Report is the absolute opposite. The mixed reviews, the emphasis on the film being fairly adult (when your main preview starts out with a streaker running through a parking lot, it's probably pretty clear to most parents that it's not a movie for kids), and the recent news stories about the date rape scene may have soured those who were interested in the film's prospects. Still, with the reported $18 million budget, I can't imagine that this film is a flop; at most, it's a moderate success when you consider that it'll make somewhere around $30-40 million.

Brandon Scott: I am going with a mixture of the so-called "Rogen fatigue" that has been bandied about throughout recent films and an unoriginal conept (Paul Blart) failing to incite the masses. I have been banging this drum over the last year. Rogen as lead actor/film anchor does not work. Rogen as supporting actor, much different. This also shows Anna Faris isn't where many thought/hoped she would be after last year's House Bunny success. For some, the stars really need to align to break out on their own, and I don't think it is in the cards for either one of them...on their own.

Joel Corcoran: I agree with the "Rogen fatigue" factor, but I don't think the problem is that Seth Rogen is incapable of playing a lead role. I think the problem is that he ends up in roles that would be great in a supporting cast, but that can't carry a lead. Some misfit, struggling guy working as a mall security guard and living at home with is lush of a mother is great background material for a broader film, but it's not something to base an entire movie around. That, coupled with Paul Blart emerging first on the field of mall cop movies, spelled doom for Observe and Report.

Sean Collier: Paul Blart continues to be the most unlikely story of...ever, as it not only blows all expectations out of the water, it sinks another, more serious film. Given Rogen's perception by the public at large and the failure to market this any differently than an adult Blart, failure was all but inevitable. Furthermore, with I Love You, Man and Adventureland still in theaters, there were a few too many choices for awkward-dude comedy.

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