The Possession
Supernatural horror thriller "The Possession" topped the Labor Day weekend box office, taking in $17.7 million on a $14 million budget. Lionsgate

After two weekends at the top of the box office, "The Expendables 2" has been knocked down to third place as new releases "The Possession" and "Lawless" have taken the first and second spots at the box office, respectively.

The supernatural horror piece "The Possession" is undoubtedly the king of the box office on Labor Day weekend. The film, which cost only $14 million to produce, alreday has taken in more than its budget as it grossed $17.7 million.

"The Possession" continues the proud tradition of low-budget horror films going on to become box office hits. The "Paranormal Activity" franchise is built on this model, though "The Possession" cost considerably more than "Paranormal Activity" to film.

In a distant second place was Shia Labeouf's period gangster piece "Lawless," earning $9.6 million in its opening weekend. While not as much of a blockbuster as "The Possession," the film still made a strong showing at the box office and should go on to have a successful future.

Last weekend, the anti-Obama film "2016: Obama's America" had a strong showing as I opened in almost a thousand new theatres. It quickly jumped into seventh place, earning $6.5 million and becoming the highest-grossing conservative documentary ever.

This weekend, "2016" has slowed down somewhat despite opening in 600 more theatres. "2016: Obama's America" still did well regardless, earning $5.1 million and holding ninth place.

Labor Day weekend also saw "The Avengers" make a brief return to theatres, earning $1.7 million for 14th place at the box office. The return to theaters also helped push the film past a landmark boundary of $1.5 billion in worldwide gross. Not bad for a film that came out 18 weeks ago.

Check out the weekend's top ranking films below. Numbers courtesy of Box Office Mojo.

1. "The Possession" - $17.7 million

2. "Lawless" - $9.7 million

3. "The Expendables 2" - $8.8 million

4. "The Bourne Legacy" - $7.2 million

5. "ParaNorman" - $6.5 million6. "The Odd Life of Timothy Green" - $6 million

7. "The Dark Knight Rises" - $5.8 million

8. "The Campaign" - $5.4 million

9. "2016: Obama's America" - $5.1 million

10. "Hope Springs" - $4.7 million