I don't think anybody involved in the production of this movie is even slightly disappointed with how it did this weekend. It has none of the marks of a standard summer blockbuster (not a special effects flick, not an action flick, not directed by a summer blockbuster director, not starring a summer blockbuster actor) and yet it's on pace to make an easy $200 mil domestically during the main part of it's release, is having excellent revenue abroad and will easily be a very profitable movie. Nothing went wrong, no one is scratching their heads, and only complete idiots thought it would make significantly more.
Word is that 200 megabucks will just about cover the cost of the rights to the property; it cost another 125 to produce after you prepaid the major players' royalties.
Figure that the movie's actual cost is 325 megabucks, and that it has to make 650 megabucks to actually make a profit.
Interesting debating style you have there. Intellectual power on display.
MM