WITH LIGHT OPPOSITION, ALIENS CAPTURE BOX OFFICE

It wasn’t much of a battle at all at the box office — as Battle: Los Angeles obliterated its rivals in its debut. Coming in at the top end of forecasts, the movie earned an estimated $36 million in ticket sales. On the other hand, the werewolf flick Red Riding Hood didn’t take much of a bite out of the box office — do werewolf movies ever? — as it opened in third place with about $14.1 million, behind DreamWorks’ Rango, which dropped $39.5 percent to $23.1 million in its second week to bring its ten-day total to $68.7 million. Mars Needs Moms fulfilled widespread predictions that it would tank as it managed to eke out just $6.8 million. (It would have to earn that amount every weekend for the next 22 weeks to earn back the $150 million in cost to produce.) Once again the box office showed no signs of recovery, dropping 12 percent from the comparable weekend a year ago in one of the longest downturns in memory.

The top ten films for the weekend, according to studio estimates compiled by Box Office Mojo: 1. Battle: Los Angeles, $36 million; 2. Rango, $23.1 million; 3. Red Riding Hood, $14.1 million; 4. The Adjustment Bureau, $11.5 million; 5. Mars Needs Moms! $6.8 million; 6. Hall Pass, $5.1 million; 7. Beastly, $5.1 million; 8. Just Go With It, $4 million; 9. The King’s Speech, $3.6 million; 10. Gnomeo & Juliet, $3.5 million.