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James Cameron doesn't know anything about this movie. Stop asking him.

Kim Hollis: Sanctum, the Universal release linked with James Cameron, opened to only $9.4 million, with Cameron actively running away from the project. Are you surprised by the sub- $10 million opening?

Josh Spiegel: There's a really great episode of Planet Earth called caves, and from the reviews for Sanctum, my guess is that the documentary has better dialogue than this film. Moreover, as Roger Ebert pointed out, why do I want to watch a movie set in dark places in 3-D, which automatically dims the picture? Still, considering that Sanctum is the rare 3-D movie that was actually shot to be seen in 3-D, I wonder if the studios might get the message that any movie in 3-D doesn't mean they'll make a boatload of cash.

Tony Kollath: "What could possibly go wrong, making a movie about diving in caves?"

Edwin Davies: I guess I'm surprised, given that the dearth of new releases and James Cameron's name being plastered all over the film suggested that it might do moderately okay, but I didn't think that it would be a runaway success or anything. The horrible reviews and lack of any hook other than "Oh, look at all these caves and all the terrible actors in them", not to mention some sports thing that a lot of people are apparently excited about, probably didn't help.





Reagen Sulewski: Not surprised at all at the sub-$10 million mark - I'm more surprised that it got as close as it did. I guess Cameron's name fooled some people but you sort of have to wonder who goes into a movie saying "James Cameron totally got all the money for this and gave input on the dailies! It's gonna be awesome!"

Bruce Hall: When the best marketing you can come up with for the film is "loosely associated with that guy who made Avatar", that shuffling sound you hear is me already running for the door. So, anybody who was lured into the theater by THAT has only themselves to blame. At least those of you who can't get enough of Ioan Gruffudd probably came away happy.

Daron Aldridge: I suspect that they owe at least half of this haul to the Cameron name. Who actually knows who the real director was of this one? I do give it credit for making my adolescent self laugh with the tagline "The only way out is down."

Kim Hollis: If anything, this movie has really done better than I expected. I didn't believe audiences were going to be tricked into seeing it just because it was 3D, nor because Cameron's name was all-too-loosely affiliated with it. Competing against the Super Bowl made me think it had no shot whatsoever. Getting this close to $10 million should be a pleasant surprise for Universal.

David Mumpower: I had viewed this all along as a big budget rip-off of The Descent, so I'm mollified that it hasn't done much better than that (vastly superior) movie's $8.9 million debut. The fact that Sanctum may not match its $26.0 million pleases me to no end. In terms of the James Cameron effect, let's be honest about the fact that you can say "James Cameron" until you're blue in the face; consumers aren't that stupid. They can tell from looking at the product whether it has any semblance to the works of Cameron. This has as much in common with Avatar as Cliffhanger does.

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