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Reagen Sulewski: I think the potential is there for some of the box office that you guys are talking about, but the Christmas season helped this film to a gigantic degree. Is it ready from prime time against some of the other franchises out there? I think it'll "suffer" a little to the tune of about $200 million.

Pete Kilmer: I went to see Monsters vs. Aliens in 3-D and the poster for the new Night at the Museum was getting people standing around it saying they want to see it...

David Mumpower: I agree with Tim, Jim and Reagen, which isn't that easy to do given your diverse opinions. Tim is exactly right that Night at the Museum is one of the quietest blockbusters in recent memory. Because of the way it performed, opening to "only" $30.4 million then excelling thanks in no small part to holiday box office inflation, it didn't get the attention that would normally be the case. It actually went up 20% in its second weekend to $36.8 million and its third and fourth weekends of $23.7 million and $17.2 million all represent remarkable holdovers from its debut. That is over $100 million worth of box office coming from its first month of weekends. The other $85 million came from weekdays. Even during the summer, we won't see a performance like this. Despite such concerns from Reagen, I agree with Jim that this could feasibly be the "surprise" $100 million opener of the summer. It circles back to the "your last film buys a line of credit for the debut of your next film" theory we've been espousing. Night at the Museum is a much beloved family film, a live action rarity these days. It has that broad type of CGI-humor that was popularized with Jumanji that adults can enjoy while their kids celebrate the shiny. It's also a huuuuuuuge deal that the producers were allowed to do a direct tie-in with the Smithsonian, an industry first. I don't think the sequel is going to have the legs of the original, but I still expect this to be a $225 million earner with a debut that is going to shock a lot of people with its girth.

Kim Hollis: Night at the Museum isn't just a kid flick. It's a movie that parents are happy to go see with their children, mostly thanks to the presence of Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson, guys who are usually more known for their broad, adult-targeted comedy. Yes, it was the beneficiary of legs during the holiday season, but what this means is that you're going to see Night at the Museum 2's box office performance flip a bit. It will have a massive opening weekend - perhaps three times that of the original, and then ride that to a solid $200 million or more.

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