Warner Bros. took the No. 1 spot at the box office this weekend with "300: Rise of an Empire."
The sequel to the 2006 hit took in an estimated $45 million in 3,470 theaters. The total was on par with what most pundits expected but far from the original film, which opened with $70 million. However, the movie did far better than other similar movies such as "Immortal," "Pompeii" and "The Legend of Hercules."
In second place "Mr. Peabody & Sherman" scored a solid $32 million. The film played to younger audiences but also had key competition from "The Lego Movie" and recent Oscar-winner "Frozen." In comparison with recent Dreamworks films the movie played on par with "Rise of the Guardians." However, it could not match "How to Train Your Dragon" or "The Croods." With great reviews and solid word of mouth the movie could earn over $100 million if it continues its steady draw at the box office.
In third place "Non-Stop" fell 47 percent in its second weekend and only made $15.4 million. The movie has already made an estimated $52.1 million and could end up making between $75-80 million by the end of its run.
"The Lego Movie" fell 47 percent and made $11 million. The movie was hurt by Dreamworks' new release but nevertheless the film has already made $225 million. The Warner Bros. movie is expected to end its run with $250 million.
In fifth place "Son of God" fell 60 percent and made $10 million. The movie has already taken in $41 million and based on its second weekend it will most likely make between $50-55 million by the end of its run.
The sixth and seventh spots were taken by "The Monuments Men" and "3 Days to Kill." The George Clooney directed film made $3.1 million and brought its total gross to $70.6 million while the Kevin Costner thriller made $3 million and is now at $25 million.
Meanwhile, Oscar winner "Frozen" made $3 million and brought its total to $393 million. The Disney film is currently on demand but given this past weekend's total it may still have enough steam to make $400 million.
The Best Picture winner "12 Years a Slave" broke into the top 10 with an estimated $2.1 million. The Steve McQueen film, which was released on DVD and Blu-ray, has now made $53 million.
The biggest news of the weekend was Wes Anderson's "The Grand Budapest Hotel," which made an estimated $800,000 in four theaters. That's a $200,000 per-theater average that now ranks as the ninth largest per-theater gross of all time.
Anderson's film is the latest film to open solely in New York and Los Angeles to score success. Recently, "The Master" and "Inside Llewyn Davis" had stellar openings. However, once the films opened nationwide, the movies could not grab wider audiences. Anderson's picture may do much better especially after his last film, "Moonrise Kingdom," which made $45 million. Additionally "The Grand Budapest Hotel" is a crowd-pleaser while the other two dramas were a bit heavy for mainstream audiences. Fox Searchlight plans to expand the film into 65 theaters next weekend.