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Box Office Report: Bullock and Cooper fall short on Halloween Weekend

Posted in: Box Office Report, General  |  By: John Hanlon  |  November 4th, 2015
Sandra Bullock in Our Brand is Crisis

Two star vehicles opened at the box office this weekend and two star vehicles faltered at the box office this weekend.

It’s only been a few weeks since Hugh Jackman’s big production Pan opened poorly and now two more stars can add their names to the list of actors with disappointing returns in 2015. Both Oscar winner Sandra Bullock and three-time acting nominee Bradley Cooper opened new movies over Halloween weekend and neither lived up to expectations (although of the three, symptoms Jackman’s flop was the costliest mistake by far).

Cooper’s film — about a chef trying to turn his life around opened at #6 while Bullock’s production– about a campaign strategist– opened at #8 at the box office.

The story of the late summer continues to be about The Martian, which again took first place in its fifth weekend of release.

Here are the estimated weekend grosses of the top five films (according to BoxOfficeMojo.com):

1. The Martian— $11.7 million
2. Goosebumps — $9.8 million
3. Bridge of Spies — $8.3 million
4. Hotel Transylvania 2 — $5.8 million
5. The Last Witch Hunter— $5.1 million

With that in mind, let’s take a look at the big winners at the box office and a few of the big losers.

Loser: Bradley Cooper and Sandra Bullock

After three consecutive Oscar nominations, Burnt featured an actor on a commercial and critical roll. Cooper’s last film American Sniper was actually the highest-grossing movie of 2014. However, the reviews and the audience wasn’t there for this cooking film.

Sandra Bullock, on the other hand, received a lot of great praise in Our Brand is Crisis, in which she plays a campaign guru similar to James Carville. The film fell short though with critics and with audiences, who gave Bullock her worst opening weekend in nearly two decades.

Winner: The Martian

With such weak competition, The Martian keeps strolling along in its fifth weekend of wide release. According to BoxOfficeMojo.com, the sci-fi drama only fell 25.5% from last weekend to this weekend. Over Halloween weekend, the feature only earned 11.7 million but that’s enough to keep it in the top spot and keep the Ridley Scott-directed drama on a strong roll.

Loser: Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse

In addition to Bullock and Cooper’s latest vehicles, the other new release this past weekend was the Paramount comedy Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse. Starring Tye Sheridan, the comedy lacked the star power of Burnt and Our Brand is Crisis but it did offer viewers a fun premise that perfectly fit in on Halloween weekend. Viewers weren’t supportive of the feature though as the film flopped at the box office, opening in the twelfth spot of the charts.

Winner: Goosebumps

Goosebumps may not have been able to hold off on The Martian‘s continuous momentum but this funny film still managed to remain at #2 at the box office in its third weekend of release. Starring Jack Black and Dylan Minnette, the family-friendly flick has already grossed over 57 million at the box office and with its staying power, it looks like this film could be raking in more cash throughout the fall season.

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