Top 11 Box Office Movies Of The Week and Income As '300' Sequel Conquers Box Office

While it didn't come close to matching its predecessor, 300: Rise of An Empire still managed to dominate the weekend with over $45 million. Also opening this weekend, Mr. Peabody & Sherman became the latest DreamWorks Animation movie to disappoint at the domestic box office.

Playing at 3,470 locations, 300: Rise of an Empire's $45.03 million debut was off 36 percent from the original 300, which opened on the same weekend in 2007. Adjusting for ticket price inflation and 3D premiums, Rise of an Empire sold roughly half as many tickets. Still, it was a step up from other comparable titles like G.I. Joe: Retaliation ($40.5 million), 10,000 B.C. ($35.9 million), Wrath of the Titans ($33.5 million) and Immortals ($32.2 million).

Rise of an Empire was never expected to match the original 300 at the domestic box office. While marketing did a solid job positioning the movie as a revenge tale, the story just wasn't as compelling this time around. Also, the visual style that was so original back in 2007 has become played out thanks to imitators (Immortals) and parodies (Meet the Spartans).

Still, Warner Bros. rolled out an aggressive marketing effort reminiscent of those for major Summer blockbusters. And while some of the earlier marketing was unfocused, the run up to release featured better material (the "War Pigs" commercial was particularly strong). It also helped that Rise of an Empire had some interesting new elements, most notably the sea battles and Eva Green's villain.

As expected, Rise of an Empire's audience skewed male (62 percent). No age information was provided. They awarded the movie a weak "B" CinemaScore, which suggests it will fall off quickly in the coming weeks. If it can manage to play like the first movie, it will earn over $130 million total.

It's worth noting that Rise of an Empire got a serious boost from premium-priced tickets. 3D showings accounted for 63 percent of earnings, which is abnormally high: in comparison, Thor: The Dark World's 3D share was 39 percent. The movie also did strong business in IMAX, where it earned $6.8 million

 Around-the-World Roundup

300: Rise of an Empire dominated the international box office with $88.8 million this weekend. According to Warner Bros., it was up 11 percent from the first movie across the same 58 markets. It reached all major territories except Japan (June) and China (undated). Top markets include Russia ($9.2 million), France ($7.2 million), Korea ($6.5 million), Brazil ($5.8 million) and Mexico ($5.5 million) and India ($3 million).

Similar to the U.S., fellow English-speaking countries Australia and the U.K. showed less interest this time around. It earned $4.8 million in the U.K. and $2.8 million in Australia, while the first movie opened to $9.3 million and $4.3 million, respectively.

CHECKOUT THE TOP 11 BEST MOVIE OF THE WEEK AND THEIR INCOME