(Photo: Lionsgate)

It was a perfectly average late August weekend at the box office, with no surprises or upsets in the top five.

The Expendables 2 won the weekend, beating out The Bourne Legacy for $28.8 million in ticket sales and the number-one spot. The action-hero-of-ages-past franchise opened weaker than the original film, but still performed higher than expected and knocked Jason Bourne to second place.

Coming in third was Focus Features' artistically animated film ParaNorman, with $14 million. The 3D stop-motion pic, made by the same studio that scored a hit with the beloved Coraline, features the voices of Casey Affleck, Tempest Bledsoe and John Goodman.
Rounding out the top five is Sparkle, the musical drama featuring a long-anticipated final performance by the late Whitney Houston. The film performed on the low-end of expectations, grossing $12 million, but should still be on track to make a profit given its modest $14 million budget. While it's not a runaway hit for filmmakers Salim Akil and Mara Brock Akil, it's no flop, either.
Next week offers few choices to challenge The Expendables 2, though Joseph Gordon-Levitt's bike messenger-gone-AWOL thriller Premium Rush will certainly try.

BET.com is your #1 source for Black celebrity news, photos, exclusive videos and all the latest in the world of hip hop and R&B music.
Click here to subscribe to our newsletter.