One Direction 'This Is Us' Dominates Labor Day Box Office, The Butler Comes In Second

This Is Us, the documentary from One Direction, won the Labor Day box office according to Forbes.

The movie approximately earned $17 million through the three day weekend. There had been expectation that the behind the scenes footage about the British boy band would propel it to a higher gross such as $20 million. However, the tickets were front loaded and their audience declined by Saturday.

Previous music documentaries have fared better on the opening weekend. Michael Jackson: This Is It earned $23m in 2009, Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds $31m in 2008, and Justin Bieber: Never Say Never $33m in 2011. Those films hold the records for their genre whereas the performances of the Jonas Brothers and Katy Perry films disappointed. This Is Us has already made its $10 million budget back , but critics did not see the movie smashing records during its run in theaters.

"Yet these confessional ''unstaged'' moments feel more choreographed than the group's dance moves. Which is a shame, because if anyone could have given us an inside look at the guys in the band, it's a subversive filmmaker like Spurlock. But "This Is Us" comes off as an impersonal job for hire - a paycheck assignment," Entertainment Weekly wrote in its review.

The Butler continued its impressive haul with a second place finish after two weeks in the top position. The drama earned $14 million to bring its total box office to $74 million. It is expected to make $100 million. We're the Millers starting Jennifer Aniston rounded out the top three with $12 million. The dark comedy has now grossed over $100 million.