Quantcast
HITS Daily Double

Box office

THE DEVIL, DILLON & DOG DAYS: In his latest column, I.B. Bad describes late August as “a time period that’s long been considered a graveyard by those in the film industry.” For proof, one needs only to look at the weekend’s paltry studio offerings. The Last Exorcism, a low-budget horror flick from Lionsgate, edged out the Sony/Screen Gems action movie Takers (whose cast features Matt Dillon and T.I.) $21.3 million to $21 million in the U.S. and Canada, according to Hollywood.com. Now, these are respectable numbers for the dog days, but these two movies will be forgotten by the time Hank Jr. breaks out “All My Rowdy Friends” to kick off the NFL season Sept. 9. Avatar: Special Edition, on 3-D and Imax screens only and with nine minutes of new footage, grossed just $4 million and failed to crack the top 10. (8/30a)