For some people, eating, praying and loving is the way to go. For others, shooting and fighting is the preferred course of action.

The Expendables, directed and co-written by Sylvester Stallone, overpowered the competition this weekend with a $34.8 million finish. The combined star power of the cast – which included Dolph Lundgren, Jet Li, Mickey Rourke, and Jason Statham – helped land the actioner in first place while awarding Stallone his biggest debut to date.

Although Eat Pray Love fell in second with its $23.1 million take, the movie was by no means a disappointment. The Julia Roberts vehicle premiered on par with Julie & Julia’s $20 million kickoff last August. Meanwhile, Roberts earned her best opening numbers in 10 years (outside of the Oceans franchise).

Unfortunately for Michael Cera, it appears the world was simply working against Scott Pilgrim vs. the World The $60 million comic book adaptation only raked in $10.6 million over the past three days.

1. The Expendables, Lionsgate, $34,825,135 (avg. $10,650)
2. Eat Pray Love, Sony, $23,104,523 (avg. $7497)
3. The Other Guys, Sony, $17,408,501 (avg. $4768)
4. Inception, Warner Bros., $11,285,051 (avg. $3617)
5. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Universal, $10,609,795 (avg. $3765)
6. Despicable Me, Universal, $6,971,355 (avg. $2385)
7. Step Up 3-D, Disney, $6,905,201 (avg. $2831)
8. Dinner for Schmucks, Paramount, $6,285,179 (avg. $2063)
9. Salt, Sony, $6,219,502 (avg. $2195)
10. Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore, Warner Bros., $4,190,426 (avg. $1536)

(You can review last week’s numbers here.)