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Edwin Davies: I'm pretty shocked by this for pretty much the reason that Matthew hinted at: the decision to delay the film's release by six months. I figured that it was a sign that the studio didn't have much faith in the quality of the film to help it stand out against the big hitters of the awards season - a pretty solid argument considering that it probably would have struggled with comparisons to Life of Pi, a similarly visually inventive adaptation of a popular book. Releasing it at the beginning of the summer also seemed like a weird choice given the films it would be up against, but I guess being so different to the typical blockbuster fare played in its favor, as did a great marketing push for the film. I do think this was a case of a very risky gamble paying off, rather than anything close to a sure thing, but it's one that turned Gatsby from an also-ran of the 2012 awards season into a surprise hit in 2013.

While I'm not sure how well it will hold up in the coming weeks. I quite enjoyed the film but anyone who has a seen Moulin Rouge!, which Gatsby feels like a natural successor to, will know Luhrmann's style can be a bit much, and while there's certainly an audience out there that loves that style, it's a relatively small one that has always made him a cult favorite. Still, this opening should keep it in play long enough to cross the $100 million mark, and Luhrmann's considerable following overseas should ensure that it makes at least that much in foreign territories as well.

Bruce Hall: Somewhere around the time Die Hard came out, I was forced to read The Great Gatsby in high school. I honestly don't recall whether it was the book or the assignment I hated, but either way it left a bad taste in my mouth. Today, thanks in part to a great marketing push, F. Scott Fitzgerald effectively doubles John McClane's latest opening weekend - with Die Hard opening in February, and Gatsby opening in May. AND it dropped in between a hugely successful film about Iron Man, and a Star Trek movie not about whales. The 1988 me would never have believed this.

Max Braden: Despite the theme of the source novel and the still current (if dissipating) concern over the economy in 2013, I don't think the draw was the wealth of the characters. Nor do I think it was an aficionado appreciation of the novel or Fitzgerald. Nor do I think it was the snazzy style of the time, or that would have boosted Gangster Squad's opening more. I do think there was a sense that "this is going to be a very stylish movie" but more because of the production style, and Baz Lurhmann's history. But what I think actually drove the interest for this movie was the music. The trailer for The Great Gatsby, using modern music in an apologetically anachronistic way, reminded me immediately of the trailer for 42, which recently did the same (and also did well at the box office). I also saw plenty of Twitter discussion praising the soundtrack. I think it's interesting that I had to look up Lurhman's most recent film (Australia) because the comparison I saw and heard most frequently was to Romeo + Juliet. All of that makes me think that despite an old novel by a long dead author about a bygone era featuring an actor and a director who have been active since the mid 1990s, the majority of audience members were probably young people. That sends a signal about how you can actually be anachronistic with period pieces and made them work. However, being particularly stylish with the period, as in Anna Karenina, isn't an automatic win. Maybe DiCaprio had a stronger influence on Django Unchained than I first thought. (Going back to Gangster Squad, that makes me wonder what would have happened at the box office if DiCaprio and Gosling had swapped movies). In any case, I call this a triumph over everyone who poo-pooed the use of David Bowie in A Knight's Tale. (Incidentally, the music in the trailer for The Great Gatsby was a turn-off for me and the reason I didn't want to see it this weekend.)

Kim Hollis: This is a huge win. After just one weekend, this is almost the biggest earner in Luhrmann's career. The studio did a really masterful job of marketing the film, from the flashy trailers to some good behind-the-scenes promos and the soundtrack. When Moulin Rouge! was released more than a decade ago, it had a similar sort of momentum built from the soundtrack's popularity. Gatsby just dialed it up. Way up. I think you have a really interesting combination of audience demographics, but what I really think happened here is that it appealed to the female demographic more than any film we've had in a long time.

David Mumpower: Resolved: Leonardo DiCaprio should delay all of his films six months.

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