There’ll be some glum faced in Hollywood this week, with news that on the international market, box office is down about 20% compared to where it was this time last year (that’s more than a billion dollars less), and the US has seen its worse weekend for years. It’s the first time since 2008 that a movie has managed to hit the top spot with less than $10 million, with some sources suggesting that overall it’s the worst three-day total since 2001.
The Possession stayed top of the chart with just $9.5 million. The movie is doing okay for a mid-range horror flick, but on a normal weekend it would be at fourth or fifth place on the chart, rather than top.
Things weren’t helped by the new openers tanking badly, with the Bradley Cooper and Rober De Niro drama/thriller The Words taking just five million – which on many weekends wouln’t even put it in the top 10, but actually made it to number three.
The Cold Light Of Day truly flopped, taking just $1.8 million to place 13th. To be honest, that’s probably oddly good news for its star, Henry Cavill, as it means most people will have forgotten about its existence by the time Man Of Steel flies into cinemas next year.
Although early September is always a slack time as Hollywood transitions from their summer to autumn releases, but the weakness at the box office is pretty dreadful at the moment. Take a look below for the US box office top 10 for the weekend September 7th-9th.
| Rank | Title | Weekend Gross (millions) | Total Gross to date (millions) |
| 1 | The Possession | $9.5 | $33.3 |
| 2 | Lawless | $6.0 | $23.5 |
| 3 | The Words | $5.0 | $5.0 |
| 4 | The Expendables 2 | $4.7 | $75.4 |
| 5 | The Bourne Legacy | $4.0 | $103.7 |
| 6 | Paranorman | $3.8 | $45.0 |
| 7 | The Odd Life Of Timothy Green | $3.6 | $43.0 |
| 8 | The Campaign | $3.5 | $79.4 |
| 9 | The Dark Knight Rises | $3.2 | $437.8 |
| 10 | 2016 Obama’s American | $3.0 | $26.0 |