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Michael Lynderey: It was a looney tunes weekend at the box office, and The A-Team got caught in that trap. Now, I make the following statement without any exaggeration: in about ten years of following summer movie box office, I don't think I've ever seen a big-budget action movie disappoint to the degree that The A-Team has just done. I honestly didn't think a movie like this could even open so low anymore - $26 million?!? - not in the middle of June, anyway. It can't really be understated how much of a miss this is. Just like Prince of Persia, The A-Team was supposed to be the start of a new franchise, and just like PoP, but even more so, its first installment will also be its last. The bizarre thing is that I can't even figure out what went wrong here: the casting is A-level across the board (the film's got no fewer than three actors who headlined big breakout hits last year), the trailers did exactly the job they were supposed to do, the release date is just about perfect (and there's almost no competition on the action front), and even the reviews are mixed at worst. How did The A-Team pull this off? It's like a near-perfect plan that never came together.

Shalimar Sahota: But it has a tank... in mid-air!

Anyway, I can see Matthew's point that even though it's titled as The A-Team, it's still just another dumb action pic in the end. However, I'm surprised at the result, and like Michael said, the film had a lot of factors going for it. The trailers showed a cast that look like they've been together for years. There are also action films that have reviewed far worse, only to top the box office with bigger openings, G.I. Joe being the first one that springs to mind. It's an unusually disappointing result.

Jim Van Nest: Honestly, I just don't think anyone was ever really wanting any more A-Team. As someone who should have watched the A-Team when it was on television, it didn't interest me then. No one was clamoring for a remake. No one was clamoring for Karate Kid either...but compare the trailers and commercials and one looked like a pretty decent retelling and the other looked like crap. I don't think the World Cup had anything to do with it, as Karate Kid brought down the house this weekend. it was simply more of what we've seen this summer movie season...people are being WAY more choosy with their entertainment dollar. If it looks like crap, they're staying away.

Jason Lee: Looks like shirtless sequences featuring a beefed-up Bradley Cooper can only go so far . . .

Kim Hollis: While I think they did some fun things in the trailer, I think that the real problem The A-Team faced was the fact that it's just not really a known commodity for the audience it's trying to draw. The show was popular before most of that key demographic was even born. If you haven't seen the show, the movie's over-the-top antics might be more worthy of eye-rolling than cash for a movie ticket. I'm not terribly surprised by what happened here, but I did think it could take in between $30-35 million for the weekend, so it's a bit under my expectations.

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