Tom Cruise’s reign at the box office proved to be a short one as “Alien versus Predator” took the top spot this weekend. The long-awaited sci-fi action movie gobbled up box office dollars raking in an estimated $38.3 million. Cruise’s latest movie “Collateral” slipped to third place behind “The Princess Diaries 2: The Royal Engagement” which took in $23 million despite bad reviews. Don’t cry for Cruise, though. “Collateral” still managed to earn over $50 million dollars in its first ten days.

“Alien versus Predator” which features monsters from two popular movies battling it out, only cost $60 million to make. Its opening dwarfed the success of its predecessor series. The story line features explorers who stumble on a pyramid in the Antarctic. The real stars of the movie are the two monsters. Following on the heels of the horror movie battle royale “Freddy versus Jason” this film drew in a mostly male audience. . 20th Century Fox brought the movie out without any prescreenings which is usually a sign that a movie is a real stinker and they want to protect from critics for as long as possible. But fear of a bomb did not stop hardcore science-fiction fans from clamoring to see the movie.