'300' sequel slays box-office rivals

Bloody ancient Greece fantasy-action movie "300: Rise of an Empire" slayed the competition at the North American box office this weekend, estimated figures showed Sunday. The gory follow-up to the 2007 hit "300" raked in $45 million in its opening weekend, although it was some way off the $70.9 million the original film earned on opening. The latest film, based on an as-yet-unreleased graphic novel by Frank Miller, sees the return of several characters from the first film, notably the fearsome Persian warrior Xerxes played by Rodrigo Santoro. In second place was another debut, animated children's film "Mr Peabody & Sherman." The film, based on characters from the 1960s television cartoon "Rocky and Bullwinkle" follows the adventures of a super-intelligent canine who adopts a human infant. The Fox movie took $32.5 million, box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations reported. In third spot was last week's number one film, "Non-Stop", the Liam Neeson action movie set on an long-haul flight. The film added another $15 million to its total earnings. Fourth place was occupied by "The Lego Movie", the hit animated film inspired by the children's toy building blocks, with $11 million. Religious epic "Son of God" meanwhile added $10 million to take fifth spot. George Clooney's "The Monuments Men" starring Bill Murray, Matt Damon, and Oscar-winning actress Cate Blanchett, took sixth place with $3.1 million. The Kevin Costner thriller "3 Days To Kill", about a secret agent tasked with one final deadly mission, was seventh with $3.06 million. Animated Oscar-winner "Frozen", loosely based on a Hans Christian Andersen fairytale, took eighth spot with $3.01 million. Newly crowned Academy Awards best picture winner "12 Years A Slave" returned to the top 10 this week following its Oscar triumph last Sunday. Steve McQueen's harrowing slavery drama earned $2.2 million in its 21st week of release to stand ninth. Comedy "Ride Along" rounded out the top 10 with $2 million.