LOS ANGELES • Illustrating the limits of star power, Our Brand Is Crisis was roundly rejected by North American audiences despite the presence of Sandra Bullock.

The political satire is the worst wide-release opening of Bullock's career, collecting a dismal US$3.4 million (S$4.8 million) across 2,202 locations and sliding in below the Oscar winner's Two If By Sea (1996, US$4.7 million).

It extended a cold streak for Warner Bros and exacerbated concerns in Hollywood about the recent failure of high-profile dramas, including Steve Jobs and The Walk, to find audiences.

The Martian (20th Century Fox) remained at No. 1 in North America, taking in about US$11.4 million, for a worldwide total of US$428.4 million.

Starring Bullock as a political strategist, the heavily marketed Our Brand Is Crisis, which received weak reviews, cost roughly US$28 million to make.

Two other new releases also disappointed, taking in less than analysts had predicted based on surveys that track interest. Burnt (The Weinstein Company), starring Bradley Cooper as a bad-boy chef, took in about US$5 million. It cost a little under US$20 million to make.

Scouts Guide To the Zombie Apocalypse (Paramount Pictures), which cost roughly US$15 million, collected US$1.8 million; several theatre chains refused to play the horror movie after Paramount announced plans to rush it to video-on-demand systems.

Spectre (Sony) opened at No. 1 worldwide, with US$80.4 million, according to Rentrak, which compiles box-office data. The latest James Bond movie made the biggest debut in British history, collecting US$63.8 million in its first week. It opens in the US on Friday and in Singapore on Thursday.

REUTERS, NEW YORK TIMES