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Kim Hollis: 3 Days to Kill, an action film featuring the combined talents of Kevin Costner, McG and Luc Besson, finished the weekend with $12.2 million. What do you think of this result?

Edwin Davies: Depending on which of the central figures you're talking about, this is either pretty good, expected or terrible. For Kevin Costner, this is about as good as a film starring him is likely to do these days, and is only a couple million off what the (allegedly) more high profile Jack Ryan did a few weeks ago. For Luc Besson, this is right in line with his non-Taken works, all of which tend to open in the low-to-mid teens and tap out in the $30 to $40 million range, before enjoying a solid run overseas. I expect pretty much the same for 3 Days to Kill. For McG, this is the second worst opening of his career, and if it does conform to the Luc Besson standard then it'll probably shoot under the $43 million We Are Marshall earned, making it his worst domestic performer. Unlike his last film, This Means War, 3 Days to Kill was cheap to make, so it'll go some way to rehabilitating him as a commercial filmmaker, even though he doesn't seem to be getting any better at, you know, directing films.

Jason Barney: This is not a disaster. It is not going to set the world on fire, but as Kevin Costner continues to find a good amount of work, perhaps we should not be surprised. It seems like his film obituary was written by many years ago, and despite the critics, he is still getting screen time. There is not anything significant about 3 Days To Kill, however. This is one of those movies that will be out of the top ten within two or three weeks, and with the RT rating being so bad, deservedly so. For Costner, there is still life to his career. His role in Man of Steel helped propel that one to box office success. Jack Ryan Shadow recruit didn't catch on here in the US, but I have been shocked at how well it has played overseas. Costner is no doubt part of the reason for that. If 3 Days To Kill even approaches its budget stateside it could be pushed into profitability by foreign markets.

Matthew Huntley: Ultimately, I think the word that best describes this performance is "lackluster." As Edwin and Jason alluded to, it's not disastrous, but it's also nothing to write home about. If it had reached $16 million, I think we could have graduated the description to "decent," and $18 million or beyond would have been "exceeded expectations." But as it is, the movie's numbers more or less fell on the lower side of predictions. At this point, it will likely be able to cover its $28 million production budget but will need a lot of international help to recoup its marketing costs.

On a related side note, I think most viewers continue to like Kevin Costner, myself included. He was strong in Man of Steel and Hatfields & McCoys (not to mention Company Men from a few years back). He's still got talent but obviously not as much box office pull.

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