One Direction 'This is Us' Box Office Labor Day Weekend Sales Ranks No. 2 Behind 'The Butler'
Lee Daniels' The Butler took the top spot over Morgan Spurlock's 3D concert documentary One Direction: This Is Us at the Labor Day box office, becoming the first movie of 2013 to top the North American chart three weekends in a row, according to Hollywood Reporter.
The Butler, distributed by The Weinstein Co., is one example of a smaller title that has shown remarkable staying power. The historical drama grossed $20 million for the four-day holiday, pushing its domestic total to a $79.3 million. One Direction came in second with $18 million. Overseas, it opened to $14.5 million, with a large chunk of business coming in from the United Kingdom, where the band members are from.
The Butler, distributed by The Weinstein Co., is a historical drama starring Forest Whitaker, Oprah Winfrey. It tells the story of a White House butler (Whitaker) working through eight presidential administrations.
One Direction's 3D documentary follows the band on their Take Me Home world tour and their interactions with fans, their family and each other. The film was produced by Morgan Spurlock (Super Size Me) and Simon Cowell. The latter suggested the U.K. natives form a boy band -- comprising of Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Liam Payne, Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson -- after the musicians appeared as solo acts on the U.K.'s The X Factor.
This is Us marks the band's first feature film.
The concert documentary genre reached an all-time low in July 2012, according to Billboard. The bar was set in 2008 when Miley Cyrus' Hannah Montana concert film Best of Both Worlds opened to $31 million, while Justin Bieber's Never Say Never debuted to $29.5 million in February 2011.
One Direction won the Best Song of the Summer award at the MTV Video Music Awards on Aug. 25 for their song Best Song Ever.
