Thriller "Limitless" topped North American box offices with $19 million in ticket sale over a lackluster weekend that continued Hollywood's losing streak versus last year.
The movie, in which Bradley Cooper portrays a man who is able to exponentially increase his brainpower by taking a drug, beat animated family film "Rango," which maintained the No. 2 spot in its third weekend in theaters with $15.3 million, according to studio estimates on Sunday.
Rounding out the top three was last week's No. 1, alien invasion flick "Battle: Los Angeles," which saw its box office slide nearly 60 percent from last weekend to $14.6 million.
The weekend's two other new films were drama "The Lincoln Lawyer," which claimed the No. 4 spot with $13.4 million, and road trip comedy "Paul," rounding out the top 5 at just under $13.2 million.
Overall ticket sales in the United States and Canada were down roughly 10 percent from the same weekend one year ago, and it was the fourth straight weekend of a decline at box offices versus 2010, according to tracker Hollywood.com Box Office.
Year-to-date ticket sales are off 20 percent and attendance in theaters is down 21 percent against last year when "Avatar" and "Alice in Wonderland" captured moviegoers' imaginations.
Box offices have been in the doldrums since November 2010, but Hollywood hopes that will change when its summer movie season starts in early May with a series of big-budget flicks.
"The first quarter of 2011 has been one we'd like to forget with com