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David Mumpower: Something I find fascinating about the viral celebrity phenomenon is that it's training an entire generation of viewers to consume media differently. There was a project last year featuring YouTube stars (if that's an apt term) that received very little marketing via conventional media. It shot to the top of download rankings anyway, because that's the way the target audience expected the distribution model to work. Schumer releasing a film in theaters borders on archaic in comparison to this style, which should keep movie exhibitors and distributors up at night. Part of the process for generations now is training teens how to attend movies. Smosh is about to demonstrate that an entirely new blueprint exists that many people under 25 find preferable.

Kim Hollis: One of BOP's loyal readers, Bruce, sent in an interesting theoretical question we enjoyed so much that we started wondering if we should solicit reader questions for Monday Morning Quarterback. He asks, "What if in Terminator: Genisys, Kyle Reese had been played by Chris Pratt, while Jai Courtney had played the raptor wrangler role in Jurassic World? What do you think the difference in their respective box office totals would have been?"

Ben Gruchow: Oh, to have the ability to take this one step further and posit, "What if in Terminator Genisys, Kyle Reese had been played by Andy Dwyer?"

I think Jurassic World's total would be about the same (I maintain that the number of people who were swayed by Chris Pratt's involvement in the dinosaur movie one way or another is so small that it's statistically nonexistent). I *do* think he would have bought a little more interest in Genisys, but only so much that we'd be looking at something more like Terminator Salvation's box office. Christian Bale had less of an "it" factor than Chris Pratt does, I guess, but he was still coming off of the (at the time) second-biggest movie of all time when he starred in Salvation.

Edwin Davies: I think that it probably would have had a noticeable impact on Jurassic World's opening weekend. Not by a huge amount - I'm not talking $100 million less or anything - but I could see it opening to less than Age of Ultron without a known presence like Pratt. Not merely because he was coming off of Guardians of the Galaxy, but also because he's a compelling media presence who did a great job of selling the film through press appearances. The same is not true of Jai Courtney, who is pretty much unknown and doesn't have the real-life charisma to make people interested in his projects. Over the long term, the film would have probably been a juggernaut regardless of the star, but it would have lost a little energy out of the gate, which would have impacted its final total substantially.

I don't think that Pratt could have turned Genisys into a hit, but he would have brought something more to the character and would have given the film his all when it came to charming the media, which could have helped it over opening weekend and maybe lifted it above Salvation. That's a pretty low bar, but one that I think Pratt could have cleared.

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