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How high its numbers reach from here remains to be seen, but along with its reviews and awards talk, its earnings give it the advantage of raising the eyebrows of people who chose not to see it this weekend for whatever reason. It's now firmly planted in our collective consciousness and people are going to see just to see it so they can add to the discussions that are taking place. If I had to guess, I'd say a final take of $150-$180 million is in the cards from the U.S. alone. Even though I liked the movie, as opposed to loving it, I think its worthy of these figures and would like to see it reach them (or higher ones).

Max Braden: That's huge, but somewhat expected and unexpected at the same time. On paper this could have been written off as a $10 million opener like Clooney's equally isolated space-themed movie Solaris was post-Thanksgiving 2002 (in 2,400 theaters). And you'd have to take with a grain of salt any predictions that Gravity would be a record-breaking movie. But I think for what the movie turned out to be, and therefore what the trailer could pull from it, it would have also been a mistake to write it off as a likely flop within the past week. I think anybody who saw the trailer a couple times would have recognized that the plight that Bullock's character is in - adrift with no hope in sight - touches on a very core fear in human beings. It's that fear, and the odd human trait of wanting to see that fear addressed in movies, that was what made M. Night Shyamalan so successful with his early thrillers. So I think at least some strong opening for Gravity was to be expected.

This is also huge for Sandra Bullock. I think it's fair to say her films were not thriving at the box office between 2000 and 2009, and then in 2009 she starred in both The Proposal, which earned $163 million in the U.S., and won the Best Actress Oscar for The Blind Side, which earned $255 million, followed by both The Heat ($39 million opening, $159 million total) and Gravity this year. That's quite a four year run and should secure her continued claim on leading actor status.

Felix Quinonez: I think this is a stellar opening. But to be honest, I actually thought that people were getting a bit carried away with expectations. I always thought that Gravity seemed a bit too highbrow to really cross over. I expected this to be another really well reviewed movie that didn't catch on like Children of Men. I know this stars actors who are a lot more famous, but both Clooney and Bullock have their fair share of box office disappointments. That being said, I am really happy that it's catching on and I hope it goes on to have strong legs.

Kim Hollis: Like Max, I was reminded of Solaris in the weeks leading up to Gravity's release. It was an intelligent-looking film from a director I admire, featuring George Clooney. I didn't really hear people talking about it much, so I had the notion that only people who enjoy more prestige films would go to theaters to see it. I think that Gravity has a few things that set it apart. First, ever since The Blind Side, Sandra Bullock immediately brings any film's potential up a notch. Then, you have the fact that people were talking up the 3D and special effects as truly spectacular and worthy of being seen on the big screen. Finally, social media has caused early reviews to become more and more relevant in people's decisions on opening weekend, and Gravity would be a movie that really benefited. I never imagined it would open to more than $50 million, but I do think this was a situation where everything went right.

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