“300: Rise of an Empire” rose to the top of the box office on Friday, debuting to a strong $17.7 million, and leaving fellow newcomer “Mr. Peabody and Sherman” in its wake.
The “sidequel” to 2007's hit “300” will earn around $42 million this weekend, which is significantly less than its predecessor, which debuted to $70.9 million on its way to a domestic total of $210.6 million. However, “Rise” is outpacing the original “300” overseas.
“Rise of an Empire” stars Sullivan Stapleton, Eva Green, Lena Headey and Rodrigo Santoro.
Meanwhile, DreamWorks Animation's “Mr. Peabody and Sherman” came in at No. 2 with a decent $8 million, and will likely pick up around $31 million in its debut weekend.
The leggy holdover “The Lego Movie” (more on that in a bit) is likely taking some away family audiences from “Peabody.”
“Peabody” features the voices of Ty Burrell, Allison Janney, Stephen Colbert, Stephen Tobolowsky, Mel Brooks, and others.
Universal's action thriller “Non-Stop,” starring Liam Neeson and Julianne Moore, picked up another $4.7 on its second Friday. So far, it has flown to $41.1 million in North America.
Fox's Jesus drama “Son of God” was blessed with another $2.7 on Friday, bringing its domestic total to a handsome $34.1 million.
“The Lego Movie” stayed alive in the top five, earning another $2.6 million on Friday, and nipping at the heels of “God.” The animated hit's domestic total now stands at a huge $216.6 million.
It features the voices of Chris Pratt, Will Ferrell, Will Arnett and Elizabeth Banks.
Look for continuing box office updates throughout the weekend on HitFix.