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Kim Hollis: I agree that this is an acceptable result. Ice Age makes all the money Fox needs it to, and it can boast all those overseas dollars as a bonus. The Ice Age series is considerably less expensive than anything Pixar or DreamWorks is making, and it rises to make a profit much more quickly. I do believe that we're seeing a downward trend, though, and I'm not sure that Fox and Blue Sky ought to make another one.

Reagen Sulewski: I mentioned the good fortune this franchise has had with a couple of its entries in my forecast, but failed to account for the fact that there really isn't anything special about this outing versus the first and third. And really, it does seem like the plot for this one goes a little far into the ridiculous zone, bearing in mind that we're talking about prehistoric talking animals.

However, there's an alternate point of view, that any animated franchise that makes it to a fourth film and can still be considered pretty profitable has won just by getting there. The gaudy international numbers don't mean as much as it looks like they do, but they're still mind-bogglingly impressive, and I'm sure have Fox doing a shrugging motion towards the domestic box office.

David Mumpower: Edwin is right about the consistent openings, which means Bruce is unfortunately wrong. This is in fact an improvement of 12% from the last movie, which managed $41.7 million. The second film is the one that blows the curve at $68.0 million. $46.6 million as an opening weekend is best described as predictable. There is no reason to fake enthusiasm about it, but it's right in line with the franchise expectations. We oftentimes discuss how important the domestic revenue is for a project, and that is true 95% of the time. Ice Age has proven itself to be the exception for the reason Felix mentions. Its North American/international revenue split is so dramatic that this is the rare project that renders Hollywood's backyard irrelevant. There really isn't another franchise like this right now.

How about another Pirates of the Caribbean movie?

Kim Hollis: As a movie lover, how do you feel about titles such as Journey 2: The Mysterious Island, Wrath of the Titans and Ice Age: Continental Drift? Do you mind when poorly received films are given sequels or do you deem them as necessary to fund projects featuring original ideas?

Edwin Davies: I generally don't go to watch sequels to films I didn't like that much in the first place, so on one level, I don't care all that much either way that these films are being made. On the other hand, I do mind that it seems as if the profits from unnecessary sequels are going towards funding more unnecessary sequels, the proof of which is the sheer number of sequels that don't need to happen being made versus the number of genuinely original films that get major studio backing. It just seems to me that the success of these films perpetuates more of them. If Wrath of the Titans had been a bigger hit, I don't think the money from it would have gone to an original idea, but towards prepping a third Titans film.

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