Horror holdover “The Possession” took the No. 1 spot at the box office on a slow Friday with an estimated $2.9 million, edging past competitors “Lawless” and “The Words.”
“Possession” has scared up $26.7 million in its first 8 days of release, and will likely be the winner this end of summer/post-Labor Day weekend, which is typically soft as kids go back to school (if they weren’t back already).
Holdover “Lawless,” starring Shia LaBeouf and Tom Hardy, came in at second place with $1.7 million, bringing its total to $19.2 million.
Newcomer “The Words,” starring Bradley Cooper and Zoe Saldana, is off to a decent start, pulling in $1.6 million for third. Look for the CBS Films drama to make around $6 million for the three-day.
Fourth place went to “The Expendables 2,” which added another $1.3 to its U.S. box office total of $71.9 million. It probably won’t earn as much as its predecessor, but will no doubt earn a sequel regardless.
Rounding out the top 5 was leggy Will Ferrell-Zach Galifianakis comedy “The Campaign,” which walked away with $1 million, beefing up its domestic total to a handsome $76.9 million.
Meanwhile, another new opener this weekend, “The Cold Light of Day,” opened to a paltry $637,000 on over 1,500 screens. The action film, starring Bruce Willis and future Superman Henry Cavill, will be lucky to chase down $2 million for the weekend.
The IMAX-only re-release of 1981’s “Raiders of the Lost Ark” earned an impressive $438,000.
Look for updated weekend estimates Sunday on HitFix.