Illustrating the limits of star power, Our Brand is Crisis and Burnt were both roundly rejected by audiences.
Our Brand is Crisis is the worst wide release opening of Sandra 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. Warner Bros distributed the $28 million production.
“We’re proud of the movie, we had higher expectations, and we’re obviously disappointed,” said Jeff Goldstein, Warner Bros distribution executive vice president.
Not that Bradley 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 theatres. The Weinstein Company distributed the critically scorched dramedy.
An annus horribilis for Warner Bros
“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 moviegoing, so studios were bracing for a weekend that offered up more trick than treat. Their worst fears were realised. 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.
Second and third positions went to Sony’s Goosebumps and Dreamworks’ Bridge of Spies with $9.8 million and $8.1 million, respectively. The top five was rounded out by Sony’s Hotel Transylvania 2 with $5.6 million and Lionsgate’s The Last Witch Hunter with $4.7 million. The pictures have made $155.7 million and $18.6 million domestically.
The failure of Our Brand is Crisis contributes to an annus horribilis for Warner Bros. 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.