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.

When George is handed a list of possible traitors, including Kathryn, he immediately sets out to discover whether her wife is lying to him. After an extensive game of cat-and-mouse, which at first appears to indicate Kathryn is playing both sides,