"The Possession" Continues to Possess the Box Office at #1

[JamesG]

Weekend Report: Words, Cold Light Bomb on Worst Weekend in Years
by Ray Subers
September 9, 2012


With two lousy new releases and a handful of mediocre holdovers, the box office reached its lowest point in years this weekend. The Top 12 earned an estimated $51.9 million, which is 37 percent below 2012's previous low. It's also the worst gross since this same weekend in 2008 ($50.3 million).

External factors like the beginning of the school year and the start of the NFL season surely contributed a bit, but the real issue here is the lack of compelling offerings.

This really isn't rocket science: if the content doesn't look worthwhile, people simply aren't going to leave their homes, travel to the theater, and drop $8 a ticket.






The Possession repeated in first place with an estimated $9.5 million, which is a 46 percent decline from last weekend.

That's actually a good hold for a supernatural horror movie, as virtually all of these flicks drop a minimum of 50 percent (and often 60 percent) in their second outings.

The Possession has now earned $33.3 million total, which is a bit ahead of The Last Exorcism ($32.1 million) through the same point.






Lawless fell 40 percent to just over $6 million this weekend, bringing its 12-day total to $23.5 million.

Among recent Labor Day thrillers, that total is a bit ahead of The Debt ($21.9 million) but behind The American ($28.1 million).






The Words debuted to a terrible estimated $5 million this weekend. Among 2012 duds, that's better than People Like Us ($4.3 million) and Seeking a Friend for the End of the World ($3.8 million), but that's really not saying much.

It also marks the second time in three weeks that star Bradley Cooper has been in a box office disappointment following Hit and Run ($4.5 million).






The Expendables 2 fell 47 percent to an estimated $4.75 million this weekend.

It's now made $75.4 million total, which is noticeably off from the first movie's $92 million through the same point.






The Bourne Legacy rounded out the Top Five with an estimated $4 million (off 45 percent).

On Friday, it became the first (and only) August 2012 movie to pass $100 million, and through Sunday it's at a decent $103.7 million.

It's still going to be a struggle to get to The Bourne Identity's $121.7 million, which is a fairly low bar for the franchise reboot.






In 10th place, 2016 Obama's America fell 42 percent to an estimated $3.3 million.

Its new total of $26.1 million makes it the second-highest-grossing political documentary ever behind Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11 ($119.2 million).






The Cold Light of Day debuted outside of the Top 12 with an estimated $1.8 million from 1,511 locations this weekend.

Aside from in-theater advertisments and some online placements, the Henry Cavill-Bruce Willis thriller received virtually no marketing, and it wasn't even supposed to be a nationwide release until a week ago.

As a result, the movie's utter failure shouldn't be viewed as an indictment of Cavill or Willis; instead, it's simply the result of a cost-conscious studio (Lionsgate/Summit) making the tough call to avoid dumping tens of millions of dollars in to marketing an unappealing movie.





Ahead of the Indiana Jones Blu-ray release next Tuesday, Paramount re-released Raiders of the Lost Ark this weekend in 267 IMAX locations.

The Steven Spielberg classic grossed an estimated $1.73 million, which translates to a $6,461 per-theater average. That's a little underwhelming (Titanic 3D had essentially the same opening average in 10 times as many locations), but it shouldn't be entirely surprising considering there wasn't any significant marketing push.

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=3522&p=.htm







September 7-9, 2012 Weekend Studio Estimates:


1. The Possession $9,500,000 / $33,349,000
2. Lawless $6,002,000 / $23,520,000
3. The Words $5,000,000
4. The Expendables 2 $4,750,000 / $75,417,000
5. The Bourne Legacy $4,000,000 / $103,700,000
6. ParaNorman $3,830,000 / $45,098,000
7. The Odd Life of Timothy Green $3,650,000 / $43,007,000
8. The Campaign $3,530,000 / $79,473,000
9. The Dark Knight Rises $3,285,000 / $437,849,000
10. 2016 Obama's America $3,281,000 / $26,088,000