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Felix Quinonez: I think this is a great result. With the great reviews and word-of-mouth, this movie should have very strong legs. I don't think $100 million is out of the question. And when you consider the budget, I think it's a clear winner. Unfortunately, as far as the Oscars go, it's gone from front runner to long shot at least in the best picture category but I don't think it'll go home empty handed.

Brett Ballard-Beach: On a strictly personal level for its director, Kathryn Bigelow has her biggest opening weekend over (double her previous high) and in about another week, this will be her highest domestic grosser ever and will have made more than the sum totals of five of her previous seven films. It will most likely finish north of the adjusted total of her highest grosser (1991's Point Break). For someone who has been directing for 30 years, that is huge. This is like her Midnight in Paris! (Um, kind of.)

This is a solid opening for a film that, worst case scenario, might have had as sparse a box office as The Hurt Locker. I think the controversy helped; the rave reviews and the reporting on the stellar limited box office numbers for the first three weeks also helped.

Also, as much as it disgusts me to say, all the TV ads airing during football that completely absented Jessica Chastain and made it seem like Act of Valor 2: bin Laden Boogaloo probably assured the action crowd that there would be enough testosterone and manliness. Hopefully, people who have seen it will recommend it and those who were on the fence will give it a go. I think Chastain is the best chance for an Oscar. Depending on how the votes fall for the nine films, it has an outside chance for Best Picture.

Tim Briody: I'm reminded of Black Hawk Down when it comes to Zero Dark Thirty, because both titles have three words. Seriously, it's a realistic war film that opened in December and then went wide in January to tremendous results while fishing for award nominations. Black Hawk Down won some technical awards and earned a best director nomination while Zero Dark Thirty has an acting award all but locked up and is in a horserace for Best Picture. Those two facts will help it over the next several weeks as Oscar season ramps up.

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