[Weekend Box Office] Noah Sails to Top Spot
After a minor break in the action, Weekend Box Office is back, and what a week to return to. Darren Aronofsky's Biblical epic, Noah, debuted in the top spot despite Paramount Pictures' worries about the film's reception from religious groups. Perhaps the supposed "controversy" surrounding the film's artistic reimagining of the Biblical Flood, buoyed by positive critical reviews, is what helped the Russell Crowe-led film to a resounding $44m. This weekend's other big release, the David Ayer-directed (End of Watch), Arnold Schwarzenegger-starring Sabotage opened to a dismal $5.3m, landing in 7th place.
The weekend's two other limited release films, Diego Luna's Cesar Chavez and Gareth Evans' The Raid 2: Berandal, didn't place in the Top 10. The Michael Pena-starring Cesar Chavez did end up in 12th place with $3m while opening in 664 theaters, however. The Raid 2: Berandal, meanwhile, was only released in a handful of theaters, but will be getting a rollout release over the next few weeks and should track well amongst the 18-34 male audience.
You can check out the rest of this weekend's box office numbers below!
1. Noah - $44,000,000
2. Divergent - $26,500,000
3. Muppets Most Wanted - $11,373,000
4. Mr. Peabody and Sherman - $9,500,000
5. God's Not Dead - $9,075,421
6. The Grand Budapest Hotel - $8,825,000
7. Sabotage - $5,330,000
8. Need For Speed - $4,335,000
9. 300: Rise of an Empire - $4,300,000
10. Non-Stop - $4,086,975
[via Rentrak]
[Trailer] 300: Rise of an Empire
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If your testosterone levels aren't high, they're about to increase exponentially after you watch this first trailer for 300: Rise of an Empire. Acting as a bookend prequel/sequel to Zack Snyder's 300, Rise of an Empire follows Themistocles (Sullivan Stapleton), an Athenian warrior, during The Battle of Artemisium. The film's events will take place before, during, and after 300, which gives the producers a natural way of rehashing clips from the original 300. Rise of an Empire will also give a bit of a backstory on the film's antagonist, Xerses, and how he rose to power. The screnplay was co-written by Snyder and Kurt Johnstad based off of an unpublished graphic novel by 300 creator Frank Miller, so the tone should stay true to what people have grown to love from 300.
Basically, expect more muscles, more blood, more yelling, and more gratuitous sex scenes on a heavily computer generated backdrop when 300: Rise of an Empire hits theaters March 7th, 2014.