'Battle: Los Angeles' tops US box office

Jonathan Liebesman's Battle: Los Angeles has taken an estimated $36 million for its opening weekend to arrive at number one on the US box office chart.

The science fiction epic toppled last week's number one Rango, which falls to second place with a total of $23 million.

Catherine Hardwicke's supernatural horror Red Riding Hood, starring Mean Girls alumnus Amanda Seyfried, enters in third with $14.1 million, followed by the Matt Damon science fiction thriller The Adjustment Bureau, which took $11.4 million.

Rounding out the top five films of the weekend is Disney's latest 3D animation Mars Needs Mums, which took a disappointing $6.8 million.

Next weekend sees the release of the sci-fi comedy Paul, starring Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, as well as Bradley Cooper's latest thriller Limitless and the film adaptation of Michael Connelly's The Lincoln Lawyer, starring Mathew McConaughey.

This week's US box office top ten in full:

1. (-) Battle: Los Angeles - $36,000,000
2. (1) Rango - $23,050,000
3. (-) Red Riding Hood - $14,100,000
4. (2) The Adjustment Bureau - $11,450,000
5. (-) Mars Needs Mums - $6,800,000
6. (4) Hall Pass - $5,105,000
7. (3) Beastly - $5,090,000
8. (8) Just Go With It - $4,000,000
9. (9) I Am Number Four - $5,702,000
10. (7) The King's Speech - $3,625,000