Looks like Leonidas (Gerard Butler) has rather less than usual to glower about this morning, with the news that 300, on its opening weekend, has broken the record for a March opening and very nearly equalled its production costs. Yes, it took just over $70 million, with a whopping opening day of $27.7 million on Friday.
Just to put that in perspective, that gives those ab-tastic Spartans the biggest opening weekend of the year to date, the third-highest opening weekend for an R-rated movie ever (behind The Passion of the Christ and The Matrix Reloaded) and the highest March opening ever, just ahead of Ice Age: The Meltdown last year. See? We've been tellin' you these guys could take on all comers. And what does this all mean? Well, first of all, it's good news for the chances of Watchmen getting the full weight of studio support behind it. Secondly, it is a clear sign that R-rated action movies can make money. And thirdly, it surely shows that there's a big appetite out there for films about fit men in pants.
There's slightly less good news in second place, where Wild Hogs not only held on, but did so with only a 29.4% drop on last week to $28 million. Kids' fantasy Bridge to Terabithia came in third with $6.9 million, with Ghost Rider close behind on $6.8 million in its fourth week.
Much, much further down the charts, **Amazing Grace **went up from 11th to 10th place which, for a little British drama about slavery, ain't half bad. None of the other new releases were terribly wide - **The Ultimate Gift **landed in 13th place, and that was the highest of them. And The Host made $320,000 in 71 cinemas, which isn't bad at all, but just for a moment, imagine a world where all the people who went to see Norbit or Wild Hogs went to see The Host instead. It's a beautiful picture, isn't it?
But now, one that's even more beautiful - the charts!
1
300
$70,025,000
$70,025,000
1
2
Wild Hogs $28,021,000
$77,437,000
2
3
Bridge to Terabithia
$6,865,000
$67,020,000
4
4
Ghost Rider
$6,800,000
$104,142,000
4
5
Zodiac $6,773,000
$23,727,000
2
6
The Number 23
$4,330,000
$30,481,000
3
7
Norbit
$4,314,000
$88,331,000
5
8
Music and Lyrics
$3,830,000
$43,847,000
4
9
Breach
$2,611,000
$29,127,000
4
10
Amazing Grace $2,535,000
$11,439,000
3