'The Possession' stays top at N. America box office

LOS ANGELES: Horror flick "The Possession" retained top spot in a slow weekend at the North American box office, industry estimates said Sunday, with Depression-era gangster tale "Lawless" still in second place.

"The Possession," a supernatural thriller starring Kyra Sedgwick, pulled in $9.5 million, while "Lawless," based on Matt Bondurant's 2008 novel "The Wettest County in the World," took in $6 million.

Each earned less than half of their take from their debuts last week during the three-day Labor Day holiday weekend.

New release "The Words," a literary drama about an author who earns fame by stealing another writer's work, opened in third place, with $5 million in sales.

Action romp "The Expendables 2," starring Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger, continued its drop, finishing fourth this weekend, with $4.8 million, but it was still ahead of "The Bourne Legacy" which earned $4 million.

"ParaNorman," an animated movie about a boy who can speak to the dead, held onto its spot just behind the two action blockbusters, earning $3.8 million in box office receipts.

In seventh place, quirky fantasy-comedy "The Odd Life of Timothy Green" brought in $3.7 million, squeezing ahead of political spoof "The Campaign," starring Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis, which took in $3.5 million.

Rounding out the top 10 were the latest Batman film,"The Dark Knight Rises," and political documentary "2016: Obama's America," by conservative writer and commentator Dinesh D'Souza, which were almost tied at $3.3 million.