Movie theatres were mostly attended by crickets this past weekend as the top 12 films made for a combined total of just $51.9 million, which is apparently the lowest since 2008. The start of football season may be partially to blame, but it seems obvious that the lack of options was the true culprit. The Possession stayed on top for the second week in a row, topping the box office with a meager $9.5 million followed by Lawless with $6 mil. The Words was the most successful of the new releases, opening at #3 with just $5 million, while The Expendables 2 and The Bourne Legacy rounded out the top 5. Meanwhile the Henry Cavill / Bruce Willis thriller The Cold Light of Day opened at #13 with just $1.8 million, making it one of the biggest bombs of the year. Something tells me that better marketing (ie. any marketing at all) could probably have helped.

1. The Possession — $9.5M
2. Lawless — $6M
3. The Words — $5M
4. The Expendables 2 — $4.75M
5. The Bourne Legacy — $4.04M
6. ParaNorman — $3.83M
7. The Odd Life of Timothy Green — $3.7M
8. The Campaign — $3.53M
9. The Dark Knight Rises — $3.29M
10. 2016: Obama’s America — $3.28M