The rising of 300: Rise of an Empire rises to #1!
It took seven years for the troops to assemble for more hyper-stylized historical warfare, but the sequel 300: RISE OF AN EMPIRE conquered the box office this weekend with an opening of $45 million!
That opening was far below the original 300's then-shocking $70 million first weekend. Still, despite lacking A-list stars (as did its predecessor), its worldwide total is already at $132 million and the follow-up to 2007's surprise smash has already more than made back its reported $110 million production cost.
That's good news for 300: RISE OF AN EMPIRE director Noam Murro, whose only previous feature credit was the 2008 romantic comedy SMART PEOPLE. The first 300 (which topped $450 million worldwide), adapted from Frank Miller's graphic novel, boosted director Zack Snyder to the A-list and spawned countless imitations of his speed-cranking visual style.
The sequel received an adequate 'B' CinemaScore from paying crowds, and a less-than-victorious 43% average on Rotten Tomatoes from the critics. (300's EMPIRE also joins THE PLANET OF THE APES, THE GUARDIANS, THE DARK KNIGHT, THE WIND, COBRA, THE SILVER SURFER and THE LYCANS as the latest thing to RISE in theaters over the past few years.)
Coming in second place was the new computer-animated family flick MR. PEABODY AND SHERMAN with $32.5 million. The digitized time-traveling dog and his adopted son were brought into the present from the old "Rocky & Bullwinkle" cartoon show, and both crowds and critics enjoyed the nostalgia, giving it an 'A' CinemaScore and a 77% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Liam Neeson's latest action flick NON-STOP is cruising at an altitude of third place with $15.3 million, a dip of around 46% from its opening last week. THE LEGO MOVIE continues to build its bank in fourth with another $11 million, keeping toys ahead of Jesus as SON OF GOD drops to fifth in its second weekend with $10 million, losing more 60% of business from its opening.
Things take a downturn in the bottom half of the chart as George Clooney's THE MONUMENTS MEN marches just ahead of 3 DAYS TO KILL, and Disney's FROZEN refuses to relinquish the eighth place slot (it's been there a month now). Oscar winner 12 YEARS A SLAVE was pushed onto more than a thousand screens to capitalize on its shiny new award, taking in $2.1 million (the slavery drama has made around $150 million worldwide).
RIDE ALONG still clings to the bottom of the chart after two months in theaters, while newer releases ROBOCOP, ABOUT LAST NIGHT and POMPEII slide out of sight. Wes Anderson's THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL opened on just four screens and pulled in a remarkable $200k per-screen, one of the highest averages on record (it has already made $10 million overseas).
Next weekend puts "Breaking Bad" co-star Aaron Paul behind the wheel in the videogame adaptation NEED FOR SPEED, Tyler Perry gives us the girls in TYLER PERRY'S THE SINGLE MOMS CLUB, and fans get their way with the VERONICA MARS feature, while the Jason Bateman comedy BAD WORDS opens in limited release, along with the Jake Gyllenhaal doppelganger thriller ENEMY and the Kurt Russell heist movie ART OF THE STEAL.
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| # | MOVIE TITLE | WKND $ | TOTAL $ |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 300: Rise of an Empire | $45 M | NEW |
| 2 | Mr. Peabody and Sherman | $32.5 M | NEW |
| 3 | Non-Stop | $15.3 M | $52.1 M |
| 4 | The Lego Movie | $11 M | $224.9 M |
| 5 | Son of God | $10 M | $41.4 M |
| 6 | 3 Days to Kill | $3 M | $25.5 M |
| 7 | The Monuments Men | $3.1 M | $70.6 M |
| 8 | Frozen | $3 M | $393 M |
| 9 | 12 Years a Slave | $2.1 M | $53.1 M |
| 10 | Ride Along | $2 M | $129.9 M |