Labor Day Box Office: 'The Possession' Scares Up Near-Record Debut; '2016: Obama's America' Barely Stays In Top 10

"The Possession" was the top choice for moviegoers over Labor Day weekend, giving Lionsgate three weekends in a row of box office supremacy.

The horror film, produced by Sam Raimi, grossed an estimated $17.7 million from Friday to Sunday, and $21.3 million over the four-day holiday. That gives the Lionsgate feature the second-highest Labor Day opening ever, behind only the 2007 remake of "Halloween." Jason Statham's "The Transporter 2" held the previous runner-up position, with $20.1 million earned in 2005.

In second place was The Weinstein Company's "Lawless." Starring Shia LaBeouf, Tom Hardy, Jessica Chastain, Guy Pearce and Gary Oldman, the violent Prohibition-era drama earned $13 million over the four days, giving it $13 million since opening last Wednesday. That puts "Lawless" on par with "The Debt" -- which also co-starred Chastain -- an adult drama which opened to $12.8 million during the four-day holiday last year.

In third place was last weekend's champ "The Expendables 2" with $11.2 million, pushing its cume to $68.5 million. "The Bourne Legacy" earned $9.4 million in fourth place as it closes in on $100 million overall.

"2016: Obama's America" was the biggest story last week, but the film grossed just $5.1 million from Friday to Sunday, finishing in ninth place. That marks a 21.6 percent drop from last week, despite "2016: Obama's America" adding 659 additional theaters. Still, the film has earned $20.6 million overall, making it the fifth highest grossing political documentary ever.

The only other new release was "Oogieloves In The BIG Balloon Adventure." As expected, the kids' film earned the worst wide-release opening ever, averaging just $207 from 2,160 venues. That gave "Oogieloves" a total weekend gross of $448,000.

For more on the box office, head over to THR.com.

[Numbers via Box Office Mojo]