300 holds on to top spot against weak competition

300 holds on to top spot against weak competition



Actress Archives.com



March 18, 2007




300, the swords-and-sandals picture for a new generation, starring Gerard Butler, Lena Headey, and Dominic West, fell by more than half from its record-breaking opening weekend, but it still had enough steam to hold on to the number one spot in its second frame. 300, the movie that might turn Gerard Butler into a star, fell 56% and added another $31.2 million to its incredible total of $127.5 million, according to studio estimates posted by Box Office Mojo. 300 is directed by Zack Snyder and is based on a graphic novel by Frank Miller.


One of the reasons that 300 could hold on to the top spot despite losing more than half its first weekend gross is a lack of competition, despite three new films entering the market. The best performance of the three came from the Sandra Bullock thriller, Premonition, which averaged $6,358 per screen to claim the number three spot with an $18 million total this weekend. On a $20 million budget, Premonition could actually be called a pretty respectable hit, even if the Sandra Bullock film couldn't crack the top two. The other two new movies for the weekend failed far worse with the horror movie Dead Silence averaging $4,305 per screen for only $7.8 million and Chris Rock's comedy I Think I Love My Wife opening completely dead on arrival with only $5.7 million. Those numbers were still good enough for fourth and fifth place.


Second place went, yet again, to one of the biggest hits of the year so far, the family comedy Wild Hogs, starring John Travolta, Tim Allen, Martin Lawrence, and William H. Macy. The comedy fell only around 32% according to Box Office Mojo and actually had a higher per screen average than two of the new films this weekend - Dead Silence and I Think I Love My Wife. The John Travolta comedy made another $18.8 million in its third weekend, for a three week total of $104 million, according to early studio estimates.


The rest of the top ten this weekend were filled out by Bridge to Terabithia ($5.1 million this weekend/$74.9 million total), Ghost Rider ($4.0/$110.2), Zodiac ($3.1/$28.9), Norbit ($2.7/$92.4), and Music and Lyrics ($2.2/$47.4).


This weekend will produce an onslaught of movies that even 300 will be unlikely to defend against. On Friday, Fox Atomic hopes that people will want to revisit the mutants of The Hills Have Eyes 2, but the horror film will face stiff competition from Oscar nominee Mark Wahlberg in Shooter, the return of the turtles in TMNT, and even new flicks from Adam Sandler (Reign Over Me), Terrence Howard (Pride), and Rainn Wilson (The Last Mimzy). With six new movies and 300 and Wild Hogs still going strong, anything could happen at the box office this weekend. We'll have to wait and see if 300 can hold on to the top spot for a third weekend in a row.




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