The Friday box office report looks as bleak as it was last weekend. It is safe to say the Labor Day holiday period will feature no bump this year as Lawless and The Possession are the lone chances at breaking into 8-figures for the weekend and both are off to merely ‘okay’ starts with a sizable hedge going to the Lionsgate horror feature.
The Possession came out on top Friday with $5.5 million while the John Hillcoat period drama Lawless found $2.8 million. This essentially means that it still pays to make cheap horror films and that the notion of star power is an evaporating afterthought among audiences in today’s world. The latter was projected to do around 50% better from the get go, but Shia LaBeouf, Tom Hardy, and Jessica Chastain were simply not enough to draw moviegoers out from their caves.
As a result, we are looking at $15 million and $10 million respectively for the 3-day with a subtle bump on Monday. Theoretically, we could see the second weekend in a row with only one film pushing past $10 million which is not a good thing for the industry. Last week’s lone film in that category was The Expendables 2 which is actually sporting a bit of retention due in part to its well-received nature. A $2.4 million Friday ensures at least top three for the reigning champion who spent two consecutive weeks prior in the top spot.