'300' bows to $70 million, sets new March record

March 12, 2007 The blood-soaked ancient epic "300" slaughtered its foes at the weekend boxoffice in North America, setting a new record for a March release by selling about $70 million worth of tickets, distributor Warner Bros. The grim warrior tale stars Scottish actor Gerard Butler as Leonidas, king of the Spartans, who leads 300 of his warriors to glorious death at the Battle of Thermopylae against a massive Persian army commanded by the fey king Xerxes (Brazilian actor Rodrigo Santoro). The Meltdown, with $68 million, was a family-oriented cartoon, while 300 is an unabashedly gruesome spectacle with an R rating that prevents viewers under 17 attending without adult supervision.

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