The box office was no match for Frank Miller’s Spartans, as 300 marched on to an estimated $70 million opening weekend.
That gives Zack Snyder’s sword-and-sandals epic the record for the biggest-ever March debut, toppling Ice Age: The Meltdown, which earned $68 million in its opening weekend last year. 300 played in 3,103 theaters, about 850 fewer than the Ice Age sequel.
Even more impressive is that 300‘s production budget was just $65 million. Warner Bros. must be extremely happy right now.
March 11th, 2007 at 7:32 pm
300 certainly deserved to do well. It was a much better film that I had expected, and it really looked great on IMAX. I wrote a review of it here if you are interested:
http://lestdarknessfall.blogspot.com/2007/03/300-fantasy-movie-about-thermopylae.html
I didn’t realize that they only spent $65 million on it. I would have though all of that CGI would have cost them more. I guess having most of the cast be no-name actors helped keep the costs down too.
March 12th, 2007 at 12:57 am
The mainstream media movie critics generally panned the movie, but seriously, what the heck were they lookin’ for? Their eye-rolling reviews make me wonder just how out of touch they are.
March 12th, 2007 at 4:33 pm
The movie was AWESOME! i couldn’t believe so many of my friends didn’t like the movie. it was great. I am so motivated now to go to the gym and start working out…i can’t believe the movie was made through CGI, that is so crazy. i think it’s time to read the comic of 300.. there are behind the scene clips at zannel if you’re interested. I wonder how it would look like if it was like sin city.
March 12th, 2007 at 5:08 pm
Well, count me in as one of those out-of-touch, clueless, mainstream critics who didn’t “get” 300. Here’s the link to my review in case you’re interested in a contrary view:
http://www.movie-vault.com/reviews/TkSSlVVglkgwJuPQ
Sorry to disagree with all the defensive fanboy love for a ridiculously overwrought, muddled, unengaging mess that proves Snyder isn’t much of a storyteller. He sure knows how to bring the videogame aesthetic to the big screen though.
After seeing (and reviewing) 300, all I can say is Snyder’s adaptation of Alan Moore’s Watchmen needs to be stoppped and fast. Sadly, with the box office success of 300, that doesn’t look likely.
MV