Box Office: 'Our Brand is Crisis,' 'Burnt,' 'Scouts Guide' All Bomb

By Brent Lang
LOS ANGELES, Nov 1 (Variety.com) - Illustrating the limits
of star power, "Our Brand is Crisis" and "Burnt" were both
roundly rejected by audiences despite the presence of Sandra
Bullock and Bradley Cooper.
"Our Brand is Crisis," a political satire about a spin-doctor
navigating a Latin American presidential election, is the worst
wide release opening of Bullock's career, sliding in below
1996's "Two If By Sea" with $4.7 million. It debuted to a
dreadful $3.4 million across 2,202 locations.
Not that Cooper fared much better playing a down-and-out
chef trying to score a comeback. "Burnt" made a meagre $5
million bowing across 2,900 theaters. The Weinstein Company
distributed the critically scorched dramedy. It cost roughly $20
million to make and was directed by John Wells ("August: Osage
County")
"It's a small film and we didn't spend a ton of money on it,
but we were obviously hoping for more," said Erik Lomis, the
Weinstein Company's distribution chief. "We love Bradley and he
worked so hard on it with John Wells. It's a passion project
that hit a tough weekend."
It wasn't just star power at play. Both films debuted on
Halloween weekend that fell at a particularly rough time on the
calendar. The holiday happened to take place on Saturday,
traditionally the busiest day for movie-going, so studios were
bracing for a weekend that offered up more trick than treat.
Their worst fears were realized.
Overall ticket sales fell below $75 million, the worst
results of the year. The weakness of "Our Brand is Crisis" and
"Burnt" enabled a group of holdovers to maintain their grip on
the top spots at the box office.
"The Martian" captured first place with $11.4 million. The
Fox adventure story is on pace to be the biggest domestic
grossing release of Ridley Scott's career, having made $182.8
million since debuting in October.
"Steve Jobs," the Universal drama about the Apple (O:AAPL) founder,
sank in its second weekend of wide release. The picture earned
$2.6 million, a 65% fall, bringing its domestic total to $14.5
million.
It was also a bad weekend for distribution experiments.
Paramount's "Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse" was
brutalized when it kicked off to roughly $1.5 million across
1,500 locations. Its failure comes on the heels of last
weekend's "Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension." Both
pictures are part of an experiment that allows Paramount to
debut the films digitally 17 days after it leaves most theaters
in return for cutting exhibitors like AMC in on a cut of the
home entertainment revenue. Usually they have to wait 90 days
between a picture's theatrical debut and its digital launch. The
problem is that many chains refused to show the pictures,
believing that they set a dangerous precedent and threatened
their theatrical exclusivity. "Scouts Guide" cost roughly $15
million to produce.
"Truth," a drama about "60 Minutes" controversial report on
George W. Bush's National Guard service, stumbled in its wide
release expansion. The Sony Pictures Classics' release moved
from 18 screens to 1,120 venues, earning a dispiriting $900,914
in the process. Its total stands at $1.1 million.
The failure of "Our Brand is Crisis" contributes to an annus
horribilis for Warner Bros., the studio behind the $28 million
production. The studio scored hits with "San Andreas" and
"American Sniper," but has lost tens of millions on the likes of
"Pan," "The Man From U.N.C.L.E.," and "Jupiter Ascending."
It is hoping next year, which offers up "Batman v. Superman:
Dawn of Justice" and the Harry Potter spin-off, "Fantastic
Beasts and Where to Find Them," can help the studio rebound.