By Jake Coyle, Film Writer
NEW YORK (AP) --Sandra Bullock's political satire "Our Brand Is Crisis" and Bradley Cooper's chef drama "Burnt" added to a pileup of flops at the box office, where new wide releases have gone a startling 0-for-9 in the last two weeks.
After five movies failed to draw moviegoers last week, Hollywood whiffed again over the Halloween weekend as four new movies went largely ignored in favor of trick-or-treating. The "60 Minutes II" scandal drama "Truth," with Cate Blanchett and Robert Redford, expanding nationwide, and the horror comedy "Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse" added to a plague of empty theaters.
That enabled the top three films from the last several weeks — "The Martian," ''Goosebumps" and "Bridge of Spies" — to remain atop the ranks, according to studio estimates Sunday. With an estimated $11 million in its fifth weekend, Ridley Scott's 3-D space adventure "The Martian" has hauled in $180.8 million domestically, and led the box office four times — a dominating stretch that has spelled trouble for other releases courting adult moviegoers.
The weekend was never meant to be a big one at theaters with Halloween falling on a Saturday and the latest James Bond film, "Spectre" (and follow-up to the $1.1 billion "Skyfall") awaiting release in the coming week. Sony's "Spectre," which has opened in a few international markets, scored the biggest U.K. debut ever with $63.8 million over the weekend.
But the box office numbers in North America were still especially low, especially for two of Hollywood's top stars.
The Weinstein Co.'s "Burnt," starring Cooper as a former top chef in Paris, took in $5 million despite playing on more than 3,000 screens. "Our Brand Is Crisis," David Gordon Green's true tale of political strategists in Bolivia, managed a scant $3.4 million on 2,202 screens for Warner Bros. Though made for a modest $28 million, the film's opening marks the worst wide-release debut of a movie headlined by Bullock, even falling below the $4.7 million of "Two if by Sea" in 1996.
Sony Pictures Classics "Truth," which recounts CBS' reporting on President George W. Bush's military service, expanded to 1,120 theaters, but couldn't even crack $1 million. It earned just $901,000.
Paramount Pictures' "Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse" grossed just $1.8 million on 1,509 screens. Paramount is experimenting with a shortened theatrical window for the film, along with the recently opened "Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension."
Thus far, the trial has yielded mixed results. Major theater chains aside from AMC and Cineplex have refused to play the films, which will be made available digitally 17 days after they leave theaters.
The four flops added to five from last week, when "Steve Jobs," ''Jem and the Holograms," ''Rock the Kasbah," ''The Last Witch Hunter" and "Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension" all failed to crack $11 million.
"Next week, the whole complexion of this will change," says Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for box office data firm Rentrak. "But I think this is a really good lesson learned for Hollywood that if you have too much product — particularly aimed at older audiences — you're going to fragment the audience to the point where a lot of movies are going to become casualties of that crowded marketplace."
The two weeks of debuts have also been populated mainly by poorly reviewed movies with the exception of the acclaimed but much criticized "Steve Jobs." Instead, the October successes are mostly movies roundly considered good, made by veteran directors: Scott's "The Martian" and Steven Spielberg's "Bridge of Spies."
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Rentrak. Where available, the latest international numbers for Friday through Sunday are also included. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.
1. "The Martian," $11.4 million ($17 million international).
2. "Goosebumps," $10.2 million ($7.1 million international).
3. "Bridge of Spies," $8.1 million ($3.4 million international).
4. "Hotel Transylvania 2," $5.8 million ($33.6 million international).
5. "Burnt," $5 million ($1.2 million international).
6. "The Last Witch Hunter," $4.8 million ($18.6 million international).
7. "Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension," $3.5 million ($13.5 million international).
8. "Our Brand Is Crisis," $3.4 million.
9. "Crimson Peak," $3.1 million ($5.3 million international).
10. "Steve Jobs," $2.6 million.
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Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at international theaters (excluding the U.S. and Canada), according to Rentrak:
1. "Spectre," $80.4 million.
2. "Hotel Transylvania 2," $33.6 million.
3. "The Last Witch Hunter," $18.6 million.
4. "The Witness," $18.5 million.
5. "The Martian," $17 million.
6. "Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension," $13.5 million.
7. "Ant-Man," $11 million.
8. "Goosebumps," $7.1 million.
9. "Pan," $6.3 million.
10. "Les Nouvelles aventures d'Aladin," $5.8 million.
Review: Writer-Directors Scott Beck and Bryan Wood’s “Heretic”
"Heretic" opens with an unusual table setter: Two young missionaries from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are discussing condoms and why some are labeled as large even though they're all pretty much a standard size. "What else do we believe because of marketing?" one asks the other.
That line will echo through the movie, a stimulating discussion of religion that emerges from a horror movie wrapper. Despite a second-half slide and feeling unbalanced, this is the rare movie that combines lots of squirting blood and elevated discussion of the ancient Egyptian god Horus.
Our two church members — played fiercely by Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East — are wandering around trying to covert souls when they knock on the door of a sweet-looking cottage. Its owner, Mr. Reed, offers a hearty "Good afternoon!" He welcomes them in, brings them drinks and promises a blueberry pie. He's also interested in learning more about the church. So far, so good.
Mr. Reed is, of course, if you've seen the poster, the baddie and he's played by Hugh Grant, who doesn't go the snarling, dead-eyed Hannibal Lecter route in "Heretic." Grant is the slightly bumbling, bashful and self-mocking character we fell in love with in "Four Weddings and a Funeral," but with a smear of menace. He gradually reveals that he actually knows quite a bit about the Mormon religion — and all religions.
"It's good to be religious," he says jauntily and promises his wife will join them soon, a requirement for the church. Homey touches in his home include a framed "Bless This Mess" needlepoint on a wall, but there are also oddities, like his lights are on a timer and there's metal in the walls and ceilings.
Writer-directors Scott Beck and Bryan Wood — who also... Read More