Following the least-attended summer at the movies since 1993, Hollywood studios continued to weather poor box office on Friday. The lousy numbers could result in the first weekend since 2008 with no films earning over $10 million in ticket sales.
For the second weekend in a row, "The Possession" led the way, earning $2.8 million on Friday night. That puts the Lionsgate horror film on track for almost $10 million, reports TheWrap. "Lawless" was in the runner-up position with $1.7 million on Friday, ranking slightly ahead of new release "The Words." The CBS Films release, with Bradley Cooper in a starring role, was never designed to earn major box office and could gross as much as $7.5 by Sunday night.
Not faring nearly as well was "The Cold Light of Day," a thriller starring Henry Cavill and Bruce Willis. The film won't even crack the top ten for the weekend after earning just $637,000 on Friday.
Of course, no one should be too surprised at the depressed numbers, especially during an election year. The weekend of Sept. 5, 2008 was the last time no films grossed over $10 million. (The Nicolas Cage bomb "Bangkok Dangerous" topped the charts back then, with just over $7 million in sales.) Like this year, that weekend fell immediately after the Democratic and Republican National Conventions.
Not that this weekend was always destined to be a dog. Warner Bros. had "Gangster Squad" scheduled for release on Sept. 7, but had to adjust those plans after the massacre of 12 people at a midnight screening of "The Dark Knight Rises" in Aurora, Colo. back in July. The film will now arrive in January.
For more, head over to TheWrap.
[Numbers via Box Office Mojo]
