A critically praised Steven Soderbergh spy thriller might have been an easy sell to moviegoers even a decade ago. But the dismal $7.5 million opening of Focus Features' "Black Bag" shows the chicken-and-egg problem that Hollywood faces when it comes to building audiences for movies that don't have a well-known IP attached.

Steven Soderbergh's Black Bag has been all the rage as the spy thriller enjoys significant uplifting among fans and viewers with its thrilling presence.

“ Black Bag ,” an elegant, quick-witted new thriller that finds Cate Blanchett and Michael Fassbender playing married spies, isn’t the pair’s first time together on screen. That honor goes to 2017’s “Song to Song,” one of Terrence Malick’s most intangible and head-scratching offerings — though the two stars can barely recall that experience.