'Possession' occupies top spot at weak box office

The Associated Press, Monday, September 10, 2012, 2:41pm (PDT)

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The horror tale "The Possession" remained No. 1 at this year's weakest weekend box office, adding $9.3 million to its $33.1 million haul.

The fright flick starring Kyra Sedgwick and Jeffrey Dean Morgan as parents of a possessed girl stayed atop the box office in its second weekend, the lowest grossing this year.

The box office's total revenue of $67 million marked the worst weekend for the film industry since the weekend after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks when revenues were down to $59.7 million. It was also the first time since 2008 that no film managed to crack the $10 million mark.

The top 20 movies at U.S. and Canadian theaters Friday through Sunday, followed by distribution studio, gross, number of theater locations, average receipts per location, total gross and number of weeks in release, as compiled Monday by Hollywood.com are:

1. "The Possession," Lionsgate, $9,317,472, 2,834 locations, $3,288 average, $33,166,582, two weeks.

2. "Lawless," Weinstein Co., $6,007,036, 3,138 locations, $1,914 average, $23,525,455, two weeks.

3. "The Expendables 2," Lionsgate, $4,951,899, 3,260 locations, $1,519 average, $75,619,038, four weeks.

4. "The Words," CBS Films, $4,750,894, 2,801 locations, $1,696 average, $4,750,894, one week.

5. "ParaNorman," Focus, $4,195,415, 2,856 locations, $1,469 average, $45,452,876, four weeks.

6. "The Bourne Legacy," Universal, $3,969,330, 2,766 locations, $1,435 average, $103,628,825, five weeks.

7. "The Odd Life of Timothy Green," Disney, $3,650,158, 2,717 locations, $1,343 average, $43,007,208, four weeks.

8. "The Campaign," Warner Bros., $3,377,189, 2,542 locations, $1,329 average, $79,320,621, five weeks.

9. "2016: Obama's America," Rocky Mountain Pictures, $3,309,422, 2,017 locations, $1,641 average, $26,115,717, nine weeks.

10. "The Dark Knight Rises," Warner Bros., $3,218,189, 1,987 locations, $1,620 average, $437,782,482, eight weeks.

11. "Hope Springs," Sony, $2,800,217, 2,437 locations, $1,149 average, $57,519,656, five weeks.

12. "Premium Rush," Sony, $2,311,414, 2,182 locations, $1,059 average, $16,743,104, three weeks.

13. "The Cold Light of Day," Lionsgate, $1,831,588, 1,511 locations, $1,212 average, $1,831,588, one week.

14. "Raiders of the Lost Ark," Paramount, $1,673,731, 267 locations, $6,269 average, $1,673,731, one week.

15. "Hit and Run," Open Road Films, $1,077,146, 1,810 locations, $595 average, $12,503,750, three weeks.

16. "Ice Age: Continental Drift," Fox, $834,216, 763 locations, $1,093 average, $157,170,660, nine weeks.

17. "Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days," Fox, $817,491, 931 locations, $878 average, $46,742,100, six weeks.

18. "The Avengers," Disney, $786,181, 1,209 locations, $650 average, $621,414,627, 19 weeks.

19. "Sparkle," Sony, $780,085, 873 locations, $894 average, $23,374,162, four weeks.

20. "Brave," Disney, $720,572, 959 locations, $751 average, $233,397,964, 12 weeks.

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Universal and Focus are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of Comcast Corp.; Sony, Columbia, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount is owned by Viacom Inc.; Disney, Pixar and Marvel are owned by The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is owned by Filmyard Holdings LLC; 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a group of former creditors including Highland Capital, Anchorage Advisors and Carl Icahn; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC is owned by AMC Networks Inc.; Rogue is owned by Relativity Media LLC.

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