Jude's top of the flops

He is supposed to be one of the hottest young leads in Hollywood.

Alfie, the £40million remake of the Michael Caine classic about a sexual adventurer, took only £3.5million in its first weekend on release in America. By comparison, Disney's computeranimated The Incredibles earned more than £50million.

It was suggested yesterday that the failure of the film recounting the promiscuous life of a young Londoner in New

York may be due to the moral climate sweeping America which helped George Bush's re-election last week.

Wayne Llewellyn, president of Alfie's distributors Paramount, said: 'It could be the mood of the country now. It seems to be the result of the election.

'Maybe they didn't want to see a guy that slept around.'

Alfie has been panned by critics, who said 31-year-old Law was neither amusing nor endearing in the role. In two weeks on release in Britain, the

film has taken an unexceptional £3.3million.

The U.S. flop is Law's third disappointment in recent months.

Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, which he coproduced with ex-wife Sadie Frost, cost £40million to make and a further £20million to market.

But, despite the hype and presence of Gwyneth Paltrow and Angelina Jolie, it has taken £21million around the world, which means it is nowhere near recouping its costs.

Law also has a role in I Heart Huckabees, which is released here later this month. The film cost £11million to make but has taken only £5million in four weeks at the U.S. box office.

'This has proved that Jude simply is not popular enough for leading man status,' one movie insider said yesterday.

'He might do okay when there are other big stars to bring people to the box office, such as Nicole Kidman and Renee Zellweger in Cold Mountain. But he can't sell a film himself.