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"The Possession" occupied the top spot at a nearly comatose box office. The fright flick with Kyra Sedgwick and Jeffrey Dean Morgan playing the parents of a girl possessed by a demon earned $9.5 million in its second outing, the lowest grossing weekend for the box office this year and one of the worst weekends at the box office in a decade. It marked the first time since 2008 that no film managed to crack the $10 million mark.

Unless you have small children or a secret obsession with low-rent Muppets on steroids, you probably are not familiar with the Oogieloves. They are the creatures in the picture above and the stars of the recently released movie “The Oogieloves in the Big Balloon Adventure,” a film that achieved something really impressive over the Labor Day weekend: It recorded the weakest debut opening of all time for a wide release

"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 could be over $21 million by the time Labor Day earnings are tabulated on Tuesday. That would give the Lionsgate feature the second-highest Labor Day opening ever, behind only the original "Halloween." Jason Statham's "The Transporter" held the previous runner-up position, with $20.1 million earned in 2005.

Studio executives expected their biggest summer ever this year as they loaded their lineup with huge action movies and superhero franchises. What they got were two colossal blockbusters, a handful of backup hits and plenty of duds that just didn't deliver, resulting in what may prove the lowest summer movie attendance in 20 years.

...That seems to be the case with “The Possession,” yet another film about an evil spirit that tries to possess its host. And it’s based on a true story. You know, like how “The Return of the Living Dead” is based on real events. Yeah, sure. With a 35% score on Rotten Tomatoes, critics aren’t buying it. That is, unless you’re Roger Ebert, who gave it 3.5 stars.

Hollywood may have run out of summer hits, but an anti-Obama documentary is helping to fill the gap. Holdover movies easily topped the weekend box office again, led by Sylvester Stallone's "The Expendables 2" at No. 1 for the second-straight weekend with $13.5 million. The weekend's new wide releases were overshadowed by "2016: Obama's America," which expanded from limited to nationwide release and took in $6.2 million to finish at No. 8.

Like their muscles, the box-office drawing power of Sylvester Stallone and his action-hero cohorts appears to be atrophying with age: “The Expendables 2,” with Mr. Stallone and a muscular ensemble, was the No. 1 movie in North America over the weekend. But its estimated $28.8 million in ticket sales was 21 percent lower than its series predecessor’s opening-weekend total, after accounting for inflation. Millennium Films spent about $90 million to make “The Expendables 2,” which was distributed by Lionsgate.

Action extravaganza The Expendables easily topped the Friday box office, but overall moviegoing remained on the softer side as the sequel found itself trailing the original 2010 film. Expendables 2, from Lionsgate and Millennium Films, grossed $10.5 million for a projected weekend opening in the $27 million to $28 million range. On the same weekend two years ago, Expendables grossed $13.3 million on its first Friday for a $34.8 million opening.

"The Dark Knight Rises" has finally fallen out of first-place at the weekend box office.
Jeremy Renner's action tale "The Bourne Legacy" took over as the No. 1 movie with a $40.3 million debut, according to studio estimates Sunday. Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis' political comedy "The Campaign" opened at No. 2 with $27.4 million.

Universal lowers its weekend projection for "The Bourne Legacy" after latenight traffic comes to a standstill, a common phenomenon since the July 20 Aurora theater shooting. Universal's The Bourne Legacy is safely in the No. 1 position at the domestic box office, opening to $14 million on Friday for a weekend debut in the $41 million range. Bourne Legacy is a key test for the studio as it tries to reboot one of its marquee franchises without Matt Damon. This go around, Jeremy Renner is the leading man.