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Kim Hollis: It reminds me vaguely of Chef, but I’m not sure it can maintain the sort of momentum that film had, hanging around at either #9 or #10 for several weeks. I think $5 million so far is really solid considering the subject matter and the fact that it has a small feel to it anyway. As Max mentions, it should find an expanded audience on home video.

Kim Hollis: Two weeks after its initial North American theatrical release, Snowpiercer expanded into 356 theaters while simultaneously debuting on home video. What are your thoughts on this style of release pattern? Also, given your choice, would you prefer to see Snowpiercer in a theater or at home?

Matthew Huntley: I really don't understand the cost-benefit reasoning behind a release pattern like this. In most cases, I can't imagine the cost to make prints eventually gets outweighed by its box-office and simultaneous home video release. I understand it raises additional awareness for the movie, but does it actually lead to a greater profit? It seems wasteful to me when the window between theatrical and home video release is this short. Perhaps a marketing expert can justify it.

With that said, I actually did see Snowpiercer in the theater, and because it is so cinematic, I'm glad I did. The home experience wouldn't have been the same. However, I did just rent Life Itself on iTunes, which I think is more appropriate for home viewing. Generally speaking, I'll always opt for the theater over my own living room, but I can't make a blanket statement over which I prefer; for me, it has to be taken on a case by case basis.

Edwin Davies: I would prefer to see Snowpiercer in a theater, and I would have seen it in one this weekend if the cinema I had planned to see it in hadn't pulled it from their schedule at the last minute. (It may very well have been that it was incorrectly advertised on the website, but either way I was pissed.) So instead I'm going to rent it from iTunes because as much as I would love to see it on the big screen - and I very well might see it if I love it and it actually does open by me - I'd much rather see it sooner rather than later.

As far as this particular strategy goes, I can kind of see the logic in that it definitely raises awareness (Snowpiercer is currently the top rental on iTunes) and allows people to see a film that they might not otherwise get a chance to see before it hits home video. What I don't understand about it is why they would do it so soon after a great opening weekend, rather than letting it expand and then putting it on VOD as a way of drumming up buzz for the film once it goes into a wide release. Maybe this is the Weinsteins’ way of putting off a wide release, either because they don't have the funds to push it or because Harvey is still angry about losing his battle with Bong Joon-Ho to release a shorter cut of the film theatrically.

Max Braden: I swear I've heard so much reverence about this movie from my friends or friends of friends that it has reached godlike “best movie in a decade” status and I still don't know anything about it. It sounds weird enough ("no, it's good, trust me") that I feel hesitant about going to see it in the theater. And a couple hundred sites is still pretty restrained for the entire country, so I do think this strategy makes sense for this movie, in that home viewing allows for more people to see it now and spread the buzz which will get more people to go see it in theaters. Without the home release, it's more likely to become one of those movies that you've heard about but nobody's really seen by the awards season.

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