For the second weekend in a row, every new release at the American box office bombed, and did so spectacularly. This weekend, Sandra Bullock’s latest wide release, the $28 million “Our Brand Is Crisis,” sunk like a rock with just $3.3 million. The political dramedy was produced by that box office kiss of death we call George Clooney, and ranks as the worst opening weekend of Bullock’s career.
Bradley Cooper’s “Burnt” is itself toast, grossing just $5.1 million on more than 3000 theatres. Even horror flopped this Halloween weekend. Paramount’s “Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse” opened on 1500 screens and (inset zombie joke here) grossed just $1.5 million.
All the talk that awards season contender “Steve Jobs” would be kept alive by word-of-mouth proved horribly untrue. After a humiliating $7.3 million opening, the biopic collapsed 65% in its second weekend to gross just $2.5 million. By Monday the Seth Rogen film will sit at just $14 million, or tens of millions of dollars from break even.
In the crucial days leading up to the wide release, “Steve Jobs” star (and box office insurance) Rogen launched an obscene, racially-laced attack on Republican Ben Carson.
How bad have the last two weeks been? So bad that the top 3 box office performers this weekends are 3 weeks old or older:
1). The Martian – 3-day cume: $10.6M to $10.8M / Total cume: $182.3M / Wk 5
2). Goosebumps – 3-day cume: $8.7M to $8.9M / Total cume: $55.5M / Wk 3
3). Bridge Of Spies – 3-day cume: $7.6M / Total cume: $44.8M / Wk 3
The good news is that next weekend is James Bond weekend.
Follow John Nolte on Twitter @NolteNC