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The end of October brought another underwhelming weekend for new releases at the box office, with new films like 鈥淏urnt鈥� and 鈥淥ur Brand Is Crisis鈥� performing poorly this past weekend.

The new movie 鈥淏urnt,鈥� which stars Bradley Cooper as a chef, grossed only $5 million this past weekend, coming in fifth at the domestic box office.

鈥淥ur Brand Is Crisis,鈥� which stars Sandra Bullock as a political consultant who travels to Bolivia to work on a presidential campaign, grossed even less this past weekend, taking in only $3.4 million. By way of comparison, it grossed less than 鈥淭he Last Witch Hunter,鈥� which opened last weekend and was viewed as performing poorly.

The lack of returns from these new movies meant films that opened earlier this month were still ruling the box office. 鈥淭he Martian,鈥� which opened in early October, grossed more than $11 million this past weekend, to come in at first place, while the kids鈥� book series adaptation 鈥淕oosebumps鈥� came in second, grossing more than $10 million. Steven Spielberg鈥檚 Cold War drama 鈥淏ridge of Spies鈥� came in third, grossing more than $8 million, followed by the spooky animated movie 鈥淗otel Transylvania 2,鈥� which grossed more than $5 million and came in fourth.

What was behind the underwhelming performance of 鈥淥ur Brand鈥� and 鈥淏urnt鈥�? Both received negative reviews, so the star power of Cooper and Bullock were possibly not enough to draw moviegoers. In addition, Halloween celebrations this year most likely happened on Friday and Saturday night, since the holiday fell on a Saturday, leaving many potential moviegoers were otherwise engaged. And neither "Brand" nor "Burnt" is a Halloween-themed movie, so it wouldn't have been a festive option if people wanted to head to the multiplex.聽

In addition, 鈥淭he Martian鈥� and 鈥淕oosebumps鈥� simply may have had a wider audience appeal. 鈥淏urnt鈥� and 鈥淏rand鈥� are both movies aimed at an adult audience and are marketed around the performance of their leads rather than big special effects or any literary source material. 鈥淭he Martian鈥� is a crowd-pleaser, with its inspiring narrative and the special effects used to create the many space- and Mars-set scenes. Meanwhile, 鈥淕oosebumps鈥� is a family movie that can prompt nostalgia from a Millennial audience and has a simple and entertaining enough concept (scary creatures from books coming to life) that the film can also bring in families unfamiliar with the books.聽

If 鈥淏urnt鈥� or 鈥淏rand鈥� had gotten positive reviews, they could have drawn older moviegoers looking for a quieter movie than 鈥淭he 聽Martian.鈥�

But Spielberg鈥檚 鈥淏ridge,鈥� which doesn鈥檛 have the big effects or well-known story of such previous movies of his as 鈥淟incon鈥� or 鈥淲ar Horse,鈥� was aiming for the same audience and since 鈥淏ridge鈥� was better received critically, these moviegoers most likely headed for Spielberg鈥檚 movie rather than either of this weekend鈥檚 new releases.