The summer movie season looks to go out on a whimper with three new releases over Labor Day weekend. Lionsgate unleashes the PG-13 rated horror film The Possession [TPOSN], which gives the exorcism phenomenon a Jewish twist. The real-life story of a haunted dibbuk box that inspired the movie has been widely circulated online, which should help stoke popular interest. The billing of producer Sam Raimi should also attract horror fans. Taking over 2816 theaters, The Possession could bank $13 million over the 4-day holiday weekend.
Shia LaBeouf [SLABE] and Tom Hardy [THARD] lead an all-star cast in the Prohibition-era crime drama Lawless [LWLES]. Older men are the primary target audience for the R-rated film, which has gotten good reviews, but not great enough to expand the audience to the arthouse crowd. To generate word of mouth ahead of the weekend, The Weinstein Co. opened Lawless on Wednesday grossing $1.1 million. Lawless could bootleg $12 million from 2888 theaters over Labor Day weekend.
In its third outing, The Expendables 2 [XPND2] could muster $10 million over the 4-day weekend. Meanwhile, The Bourne Legacy [BORN4] and ParaNorman [PNORM] both may earn about $7 million for the long weekend.
Despite a $40 million marketing campaign and 2160 theaters, The Oogieloves in the Big Balloon Adventure [OGILV] is being ignored by moviegoers of all ages. The G-rated family film grossed only $100K on its opening day Wednesday, and may not even reach $2 million by Monday.
That’s the whisper from the virtual trading floor.
Tag(s): TPOSN, SLABE, THARD, LWLES, XPND2, BORN4, PNORM, OGILV