Diyah Pera/Lionsgate Publicity
Natasha Calis stars as ‘Em’ in “THE POSSESSION.”
1. The Possession – [$26.7 million total; 2nd week] Broken record time again. September is a miserable, awful, completely worthless month for anything close to quality movies and with less than stellar new options, last week’s champ didn’t have to struggle too hard to retain its title. Look for the new “Resident Evil” to take the top spot next week if only because it has a devoted fan following and offers something audiences want to see this month.
Richard Foreman, Jr./The Weinstein Company
Shia LaBeouf as Jack and Tom Hardy as Forrest in “LAWLESS.”
2. Lawless – $8 million [$19.3 million; 2nd week] Likewise for last week’s runner-up, but sometimes it’s better to be slotted at a weak time of the year for new releases and get audience attention without much competition.
Courtesy CBS Films
Bradley Cooper stars in “The Words.”
3. The Words -$5 million [debut week] With hot stars Bradley Cooper, Zoe Saldana, Olivia Wilde and the always reliable Jeremy Irons and just a horror film to overcome at the box office, this third place finish has to be considered a big disappointment. Problem is, the trailer gives away the whole movie and what’s left isn’t enough to convince audiences to bother paying to see it in theaters. This will likely have a better stint once it comes to home video.
Frank Masi/Lionsgate Publicity
Arnold Schwarzenegger stars as ‘Trench.’
4. The Expendables 2 – $3.5 million [$72 million; 4th week] – There’s something to be said about being the summer’s last action movie. Some audiences are burnt out on shootouts, questionable dialogue and explosions, but clearly a few are still interested in watching things blow up big time.
