'Los Angeles' wins battle over 'Mars' at box office

By Scott Bowles, USA TODAY

Invading aliens had mixed results at theaters this weekend as one band of extra-terrestrials landed atop the box office and another landed with a thud.

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  By Richard Cartwright, Columbia Pictures

  Battle: Los Angeles, with Michelle Rodriguez, was No. 1 at the box office this weekend, despite middling reviews.

By Richard Cartwright, Columbia Pictures

Battle: Los Angeles, with Michelle Rodriguez, was No. 1 at the box office this weekend, despite middling reviews.

Battle: Los Angeles easily took the top spot, earning $36 million, according to studio estimates from Hollywood.com.

Despite some tough reviews, the debut was nearly $9 million more than analysts projected and put it near the opening of the 2009 sci-fi hit District 9, also released by Sony Pictures. That film opened to $37 million and would ultimately corral $116 million and a best-picture Oscar nomination.

That would be a tough feat for Battle, which earned recommendations from less than a third of the nation's film critics, according to RottenTomatoes.com.

Moviegoers were kinder, particularly males, who made up 68% of the audience. Battle received a B from audiences, according to CinemaScore.

Sony distribution chief Rory Bruer says the studio was careful to market the movie with "in your face" battle scenes that evoked the film's war theme. He says the studio looked for "exact images that were going to resonate."

That success came at a price, though, as older kids deserted Disney's Mars Needs Moms, which did just $6.8 million, good for fifth place. Some analysts expected the children's book adaptation to open to $17 million.

But there was too much for kids too choose from this weekend. Johnny Depp's animated comedy Rango was second with $23.1 million, bringing its 10-day total to $68.7 million.

Red Riding Hood was third with $14.1 million, about $7 million shy of projections.

Matt Damon's The Adjustment Bureau was fourth with $11.5 million, bringing its two-week total to $38.5 million.

The middling weekend extended Hollywood's 2011 drought. So far this year, not one weekend has outpaced the same weekend in 2010. Ticket sales were down 12% from the same period last year, and attendance is down about 22%.

Final figures are due Monday.

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