Supernatural thriller "The Possession" opened around the Labor Day weekend as the most popular film in North America, distributor Lionsgate said Sunday, September 2, 2012.

The film, which was screened at 2,816 venues in the United States and Canada starting Friday, featuring charismatic Jeffrey Dean Morgan in the leading role, was expected to rake in 17.73 million dollars from Friday to Sunday, the independent film distributor said.

The box office will be enough to put the motion picture atop the box office chart, ahead of "Lawless", another film that began showings in the North American market the same day as "The Possession", and "The Expendables 2" which had remained as the No. 1 film in North America for two consecutive weeks.

This represents the second weekend in a row that only one film managed to break the 10-million-dollar mark. Analysts ascribe the horror movie's No. 1 slot in the box office derby to the featuring of Jeffrey Dean Morgan, plus Warner Bros.' decision to release " The Apparition", another potential rival against the Lionsgate release, one week earlier, which has prevented a head-on collision with screenings of "The Possession".

The second slot on the chart came "Lawless", a Weinstein gangster film about Bondurant Brothers, the infamous bootlegging siblings in Prohibition-era Virginia. The R-rated film, starring Shia LaBeouf, Tom Hardy and Gary Oldman, was based on Matt Bondurant's 2008 novel "The Wettest County in the World" about his grandfather and great-uncles. The film is projected to chalk up 9.67 million dollars in ticket sales.

"The Expendables 2", starring Sylvester Stallone and an ensemble cast of veteran action stars, dropped to the third place with 8.8 million dollars in ticket sales. The Lionsgate actioner is on track for a 66.16-million-dollar three-week total.

"The Bourne Legacy" was the fourth with a 7.2-million-dollar weekend. The Universal movie grossed 96.25 million dollars in screenings over four weeks. "ParaNorman", a stop-motion animated comedy horror movie, released by Focus, is estimated to bag 6.55 million dollars this weekend, and is on track for a 38-million-dollar three-week total.

"The Oogieloves in the Big Balloon Adventure" will rake in 448,131 dollars as it opened for wide release this weekend. This result marked a new record for the lowest location average for a wide release with 207 dollars. The colorful toddler-targeting entry is the first film released by New York-based Kenn Viselman Presents.