The Lionsgate film tells the story of a girl possessed by a demon and stars Kyra Sedgwick and Jeffrey Dean as the girl's parents. While horror films usually draw the biggest crowds on Friday, "The Possession" instead saw crowds grow larger on Saturday and held up solidly through Monday.
Taking second place is "Lawless" with $13 million, starring Shia LaBeouf and Guy Pearce. "The Expendables 2," came in third with $11.2 million.
The holiday weekend proved to be slow at the movies, which is typical. But revenues totaled $134 million, down 3.4 percent from last year.
The top 10 films of the weekend were:
1. "The Possession," $21.3 million ($3.5 million international).
2. "Lawless," $13 million.
3. "The Expendables 2," $11.2 million ($20 million international).
4. "The Bourne Legacy," $9.4 million ($12.6 million international).
5. "ParaNorman," $8.8 million ($3.1 million international).
6. "The Odd Life of Timothy Green," $8.5 million.
7. "The Dark Knight Rises," $7.9 million ($46.4 million international).
8. "2016: Obama's America," $7.1 million.
9. "The Campaign," $7 million.
0. "Hope Springs," $6 million.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
