Weekend Box Office: The Possession tops strong, Lawless opens so-so and Oogieloves bomb epically.

So it looks like Lionsgate's attempt to mimic the marketing campaign of their 2009 chiller The Haunting In Connecticut worked like a charm.  That (rather terrific, natch) horror drama used a single horrifying image (weird liquid supernatural gunk flying out of a child's mouth) to help snag a mighty $23 million debut in Spring 2009.  Back then, it was Lionsgate's second-biggest debut not involving a Saw sequel or a Tyler Perry film.  Today it still stands in fifth place on that scale, and The Possession just proves lightning can strike twice.  The poster focused on basically the same image and basically had the same opening weekend, grossing an estimated $17.7 million over Fri-Sun and $21 million over the four-day Labor Day holiday.  That's the second-biggest Labor Day haul on record, behind the $30 million gross of Rob Zombie's Halloween in 2007, ahead of The Transporter 2's $20 million gross in 2005 and ahead of Jeepers Creepers 2 ($18 million) in 2003 .  In terms of non-sequels/remakes, it's by far the biggest such debut, besting The American ($16 million), Jeepers Creepers ($15 million), and the obscenely underrated Balls of Fury ($14 million).

John Gosling previews the week's new film releases (08/31/2)

It's another mixed bag at the box office this weekend, with serious drama and horror tussling with a brand new family film. With last weekend being the lowest grossing of the year so far, studios will be looking for something, anything to turn things around.  The widest opening release this weekend is the Sam Raimi produced, The Possession. It stars Jeffery Dean Morgan and Kyra Sedgwick as a divorced couple whose daughter, Em, becomes obsessed with opening a Hebrew-inscribed box she bought at a garage sale. When her behaviour becomes erratic, the parents blame it on the recent trauma of their divorce. However, things quickly escalate, leaving them forced to scramble for an explanation and a solution, scientific or supernatural, for whatever is attempting to destroy their daughter before its too late. Raimi acts as producer, via his Ghost House Pictures company, with Ole Bornedal directing. Bornedal shot to fame with the 1994 Danish film, Nightwatch (he also directed the 1997 English-language remake) and won acclaim with I Am Dina in 2002. Raimi and Bornedal are no strangers, the former having acted as distributor on the laters 2007 comedy/horror flick, Vikaren (aka The Substitute) via his Ghost Pictures subsidiary, Underground. The director was drawn to The Possession from the initial script, seeing it as an allegory for divorce, rather than a straight scare flick. The core device in the film, the Dibbuk box, is actually based on a real life item, said to be haunted by a spirit from Jewish folklore. 

Lionsgate's The Possession gets a poster aping a key image in the Haunting In Connecticut poster...

Prior to The Expendables ($34.8 million) and The Hunger Games ($152 million), The Haunting In Connecticut had the second-biggest opening in Lionsgate history outside of the Saw sequels and Tyler Perry films.  With $23 million, it lagged only behind Fahrenheit 9/11 ($23.9 million) up until just two years ago.  As of today, it's still Lionsgate's 14th biggest debut and their fourth-biggest debut outside of those two franchises.  And with a final domestic gross of $55.3 million, it ranks as Lionsgate's 12th biggest grosser, and the fifth-biggest earned for Lionsgate outside of the above-noted Saw sequels/Tyler Perry projects.  Only The Lincoln Lawyer ($58 million), The Expendables ($103 million), Fahrenheit 9/11 ($119 million) and The Hunger Games have topped it among Lionsgate 'originals' (the Perry films that earned more were Why Did I Get Married Too?, Madea's Family Reunion, and Madea Goes to Jail).  I bring this up because we now have a poster for The Possession, which brazenly mimics the core imagery of The Haunting In Connecticut (which, I should add, is a surprisingly good character-driven ghost story).  We may decry the obvious thievery and probable misdirection, but looking at the numbers, I can't really blame them..

Scott Mendelson