Bloody epic 300 earns big
2007-03-12 16:31
Los Angeles - The blood-soaked ancient
epic 300 slaughtered its foes at the weekend box office in
North America, setting a new record for a March release by
selling about $70m worth of tickets, distributor Warner
Bros. Pictures said on Sunday.
The grim warrior tale stars Scottish actor Gerard Butler as
Leonidas, king of the Spartans, who leads 300 of his warriors
to glorious death at the Battle of Thermopylae against a
massive Persian army commanded by the fey king Xerxes
(Brazilian actor Rodrigo Santoro).
Its achievement was all the more noteworthy given that the
previous record-holder for the month, 2006's Ice Age 2: The
Meltdown with $68m, was a family-oriented cartoon,
while "300" is an unabashedly gruesome spectacle with an "R"
rating that prevents viewers under 17 attending without adult
supervision.
In fact, the opening for 300 ranks as the third-highest
for an R-rated movie, behind The Matrix Reloaded ($91m) and The Passion of the Christ ($83 million), said
Warner Bros, a unit of Time Warner Inc.
The film, budgeted in the mid-$60m range, was
directed by Zack Snyder (Dawn of the Dead), and based on the
graphic novel by comic book writer Frank Miller (Sin City).
It earned largely positive reviews, despite or because of
its myriad decapitations and balletic battlefield carnage.
The last few chart-toppers, incumbent champ Wild Hogs, Ghost
Rider and Norbit were slammed by the critics.
- Reuters