Lowest ever opening for new Brad Pitt film

Brad Pitt has scored his worst ever opening weekend with his new film 'Killing Them Softly'.

The crime thriller made a relatively disappointing $7 million (£4.3 million) across 2422 screens in the US.

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His 1992 film 'Cool World' made less money, at $5.5 million (£3.4 million), but that was released on 1600 screens and just a year after his breakthrough in 'Thelma & Louise'.

It was given an 'F' rating by movie research company CinemaScore, which rates movie openings for the industry.

Only eight other films have ever scored an 'F', while even a 'C' grade can mean that a movie is considered to be a box office failure.

The film, distributed by the Weinstein Company, was predicted to make a still-modest £12 million (£7.4 million), but instead made the same figure as animated feature 'Wreck-It Ralph', which is now on its fifth week after opening.

It stars Pitt as a hitman alongside star turns from Ray Liotta, Richard Jenkins and 'The Sopranos' James Gandolfini, while direction came from Andrew Dominik, who helmed films such as 'Chopper' and 'The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford', which also starred Pitt.

The other films that rated a CinemaScore 'F' were George Clooney's remake of 'Solaris', 'Bug' from 2006, 'Wolf Creek', 'Darkness', 'The Box', 'The Devil Inside' and 'Silent House'.

But despite the low takings, the film should easily make back its $15 million (£9.3 million) budget, having received largely good reviews.