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Kim Hollis: I think several things played into this magical performance. First of all, as has been mentioned above, Finding Nemo is a very well loved film, and we've actually had a long enough time between films that some of the people who were teenagers and saw the film in 2003 might actually even have their own families to take to the movies now. At the very least, Finding Nemo was a multigenerational phenomenon, and a sequel to such a beloved project had a fantastic shot at strong success.

Then, when reviews came in strong, audiences had no reason to fear that their happy memories of Dory, Nemo and Marlin would be maligned by the sequel. Ellen Degeneres did a fantastic job of promoting the film, and people just love her across the globe. Having her as your film's spokesperson is certainly a boon.

Finally, I think that Dory being the central character here was key. People love that little Blue Tang, and to see her story, one that reinforces notions of family, was going to get parents and children into theaters. Even with the misstep of The Good Dinosaur, Pixar is still a trusted brand. There's no better way to regain that trust than to give audiences a movie about a group of characters they've been yearning to see more of.

David Mumpower: In addition to all the other points mentioned above, another one of our box office tenets comes into play here. Disney Animation is a brand, and the quality of their prior titles is an underrated factor. While Pixar had their biggest miss ever with The Good Dinosaur, Inside Out lingers in the memory of consumers. Combined with the impeccable quality of Zootopia, Disney's offered consumers a pair of strong family films over the past year. One of those was relatively recent and built goodwill for Finding Dory. Combined with the lingering fondness for Finding Nemo, audiences who don't ordinarily show up for opening weekend gave this one a chance. Since they're wildly satisfied overall with Finding Dory, that goodwill should continue for Moana later this year, too.

Kim Hollis: Central Intelligence, a buddy comedy featuring The Rock and Kevin Hart, debuted with $34.5 million. What do you think of this result?

Jason Barney: Warner Bros. has to be thrilled compared to what has happened to all of the other films released over the last couple of weeks. The budget was within the "safe" range, as we are talking about a comedy starring the Rock in the weeks just before July 4th weekend. $50 million was a big, but not excessive budget. Kevin Hart has a track record, and The Rock is at the point now where people expect to see a film or two out of him each summer. Did it break out? Not really. Is it going to make money and do a bit better than Hollywood's most recent offerings? Just look in the rearview mirror. This will play well enough and get a nice bump from July 4th.

David Mumpower: We're discussing a film that's going to earn money during its theatrical release. We sometimes have a tendency to take performances like that for granted, but we shouldn't. Look at the long list of box office disappointments we've witnessed during the first half of 2016. A lot of "name" films, sequels and original properties featuring popular celebrities, failed to entice consumers. This impeccably cast buddy cop movie doesn't try to reinvent the wheel. Instead, it offers the basic premise of an action hero and a sidekick for the sake of comic relief. Central Intelligence delivers exactly what it promises, which is sadly a refreshing concept this year. Too many films tried to sell more of the same without justifying their necessity. The strongest compliment I can give Central Intelligence is that it knows precisely what it is during an era of celluloid identity crisis. Audiences respect its honestly, and that's why it's succeeded.

Kim Hollis: The number is fine, but I can't help but feel that it's mildly disappointing. Kevin Hart has had several films open in this range, and even if his star has fallen off somewhat, Dwayne Johnson should have added more to the bottom line, in my view. Then again, maybe these Kevin Hart "buddy" comedies just have a threshold that they'll never break out from. Either way, Warner Bros. will be happy with the result, but probably realize that there's some money on the table.

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