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Kim Hollis: It's a solid performance as well as being a number I expected to see. It's a zombie movie with Brad Pitt, after all. Considering all the reshoots, the studio has to be pretty thrilled that they've come out of this as well as they have, but the movie does still have a ways to go to even approach its budget. Yes, international numbers will get it there, but I do think it's important to keep a bit of perspective.

Kim Hollis: The Bling Ring, the Emma Watson starrer directed by Sofia Coppola, opened to $2 million in 650 locations. What do you think about this expansion?

Brett Ballard-Beach: It's not quite a successful an expansion for upstart distributor A24 (who turned Harmony Korine's Spring Breakers into the surprise top 10 hit of the year so far) but the the reviews have been decidedly mixed, and it may strike both young and old potential audiences as something they have seen (or could see) on the E! daily news wrapup. Yes, it expanded to fewer theaters than Before Midnight did last weekend but the per screen average was considerably greater. I will be curious to see which of those winds up with the "bigger" gross (relatively speaking).

Jason Barney: I think it is great. Maybe it is because I have seen a lot of the bigger films this summer, but I am just pulling for some of the smaller entries to do well. I am not saying I don't enjoy films like Iron Man 3, The Hangover III, or Fast & Furious 6, but there is something to be said about the flicks that don't receive a lot of attention. I'd like to see The Bling Ring, but unfortunately, as with many of these films, it has not come to my area yet. And it may not, which is sad.

Edwin Davies: It's an okay expansion, especially considering that reviews haven't been that kind to it. It pales in comparison to what Spring Breakers did, but I'm still trying to wrap my head around how that happened so it's probably not the best comparison. I think it'll probably struggle to maintain much interest going forward, and it'll probably tap out with less than $10 million, which is okay for a small-scale release, but not perhaps what might have been expected given the people involved. I still think that Before Midnight is the one to watch in terms of being the indie hit of the summer.

David Mumpower: I enjoy that the staff of BOP is forced to take sides between the Before Sunrise series and Sofia Coppola, two of our favorites. I agree that The Bling Ring earned an acceptable amount of box office but little beyond that in terms of revenue. A per-location average of $3,080 in 650 locations is nothing special but for such a small scale title, it should suffice. We are discussing a movie with an $8 million budget, after all. Brett correctly mentions that fledgling distributor A24 found more success with Spring Breakers. In combination, those two films cost $13 million to produce. They have earned $17.1 million domestically and $18.7 million internationally. Clearly, A24 is doing a lot right. They have demonstrated an understanding of how to create frugal yet engaging movies. The key seems to be young starlets with name recognition such as Vanessa Hudgens and Emma Watson combined with directors who know how to make a film on the cheap like Coppola and Harmony Korine. I congratulate A24 on their sensibility.

Kim Hollis: It's an okay performance. I'm frankly a little surprised the film was expanded this wide. As far as finding and marketing unexpected small hits, though A24 is certainly establishing itself as a distributor to watch.

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