Sony Pictures ruled the weekend box office race for the fourth time this year with the opening of Battle Los Angeles bringing in $36 million making it the second biggest opening weekend after Rango.

The movie averaged $10,356 from 3,147 territories and performed similarly with the company’s 2009 hit District 9 which closed with $37.4 million. Despite receiving weak marks from critics, the cast includes prominent names such as Aaron Eckhart, Michelle Rodriguez, and singer-actor Ne-Yo. Filmed in Louisiana for a cost of $70 million, Battle Los Angeles was a phenomenal hit overseas as well. In 33 foreign markets such as Russia, Korea, and the United Kingdom, its estimated gross was at $16.7 million bringing its worldwide revenues to $52.7 million.

Last week’s top grosser Rango emerged at second place raking in $23.1 million upping its two week total to $68.7 million. The animated comedy’s performance is very similar to 2005’s Robots starring Robin Williams. This movie debuted at $36 million and dropped only 42% to $21 million on its second week. Robots closed out with $128.2 million. Rango is expected to breach the $120 million plateau as well.

The Amanda Seyfried starrer Red Riding Hood did not fare well as expected. Despite its third place with $14.1 million, it only averaged $4,665 in 3,030 theaters. Based from the classic fairy tale, Red Riding Hood was lambasted by movie critics and got a disappointing B grade.

Matt Damon’s The Adjustment Bureau falls to fourth place, dropping 46% with $11.5 million upping its two weeks total to $38.5 million. It is expected to gross $65 million in its domestic run. Overseas, the movie is not doing well with estimated figures at only $8.9 million from 31 locations for overseas earnings of $24 million.

Rounding out the top five is the 3D animated film Mars Needs Moms from producer Robert Zemeckis collecting $6.8 million. Although the movie had the best reviews from among the new releases and an average of $2,182 from 3,117 theaters, it did not capture the interest of the audience. Contributing to its weak performance is the rival animated movies Rango and Gnomeo & Juliet collecting a combined $26 million in ticket sales. With a hefty production budget of $150 million, Mars Needs Moms was a relatively expensive project. Producer Robert Zemeckis had a similarly high-budgeted project in A Christmas Carol starring Jim Carrey. With a worldwide gross of $325 million, it had a production budget of $200 million.

All in all, the top ten movies this week had a combined income of $112.8 million, a 13% decrease from 2010 when Alice in Wonderland emerged as the top grosser with $62.7 million but a 34% increase from a couple of years ago when Race to Witch Mountain was the box office champion with $24.4 million.

Here is the rundown of this week’s top ten movies:

1. Battle Los Angeles       $     36      million
2. Rango                                        23.05 million
3. Red Riding Hood                  14.135 million
4. The Adjustment Bureau     11.459 million
5. Mars Needs Moms                  6.8 million
6. Hall Pass                                     5.10 million
7. Beastly                                        5.09 million
8. Just Go With It                        4 million
9. The King’s Speech                  3.6 million
10. Gnomeo and Juliet               3.5 million

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