The Possession took ownership of the No. 1 spot at the box office this Labor Day weekend.
The Sam Raimi-produced horror flick did stronger-than-expected numbers, grossing a solid $21.3 million over the four-day weekend, according to an estimate from distributor Lionsgate. Coming in second place is the Shia LaBeouf and Tom Hardy starring crime drama, Lawless, which brought in $13 million in its debut.
The toddler-aimed film from toy mogul Kenn Viselman, Oogieloves, didn’t do quite as well as the other films, earning a dubious distinction this weekend: $445,089 making it the lowest opening ever for a movie in wide release. By the end of the day Monday, the movie grossed $601,545, meaning its per-theater weekend average would be a grand total of $278. You can say, “Ouch,” in more expensive-sounding languages than how much it made at the box office.
Marvel capitalized on the holiday weekend, as Walt Disney Studios expanded both The Avengers and Brave to roughly 1,700 locations apiece. The superhero smash hit took in an additional $2.4 million, officially raising the film’s worldwide tally to $1.5 billion. Meanwhile, Pixar Animation‘s Brave collected $1.9 million over the long weekend, lifting its global total to around $470 million.
The Possession exorcised all newcomers, scoring the second-highest Labor Day opening ever, behind only Halloween, which started with $30.6 million during the holiday weekend in 2007.
Based on a 2004 Los Angeles Times story about a haunted cabinet box found at a yard sale, the movie stars Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Kyra Sedgwick.
Props: ABC