There were plenty of big stories on the big screen this weekend, but none of them pulled in the big bucks.

Real Steel's concept of robot boxing garnered the largest share of audience attention, taking first place with $27 million, a respectable total for the usually sleepy month of October. When you exclude his X-Men films, Real Steel marks the second highest opening for a Hugh Jackman project. Van Helsing remains his biggest non-Wolverine debut to date, making his turn as an ex-boxer his third biggest opening role to date.

The Ides of March, which turned out to be a thriller, was touted as a political intrigue flick, something audeinces seem to have had enough of lately in real life. The movie settled in for a distant second with just $10 million despite the presence of one of Hollywood's biggest sex symbols and his apparent heir to that title, Ryan Gosling.

After two weekends at number one and a third in the number three spot, The Lion King fell hard, dropping to seventh place and slipping nearly 70% from last weekend's sales. That put a dent in it's efforts to move up the all time highest grossing chart. It's currently still at number ten but is within striking distance of overtaking Toy Story 3 for the ninth spot.

For the full top ten for the weekend, check out the chart below:

1. Real Steel * $27,300,000 Total: $27,300,000 LW: N     WR: 1     THTRS: 3,440

2. The Ides of March * $10,400,000 Total: $10,400,000 LW: N     WR: 1     THTRS: 2,199

3. Dolphin Tale $9,160,000 Total: $49,070,000 LW: 1     WR: 3     THTRS: 3,478

4. Moneyball $7,500,000 Total: $49,253,000 LW: 2     WR: 3     THTRS: 3,018

5. 50/50 $5,500,000 Total: $17,300,000 LW: 5     WR: 2     THTRS: 2,479

6. Courageous $4,600,000 Total: $15,892,000 LW: 4     WR: 2     THTRS: 1,161

7. The Lion King (in 3D) $4,552,000 Total: $85,962,000 LW: 3     WR: 4     THTRS: 2,267

8. Dream House $4,500,000 Total: $14,500,000 LW: 6     WR: 2     THTRS: 2,664

9. What's Your Number? $3,050,000 Total: $10,306,000 LW: 8     WR: 2     THTRS: 3,011

10. Abduction $2,900,000 Total: $23,369,000 LW: 7     WR: 3     THTRS: 2,591