‘300: Rise of an Empire’ dominates weekend BO

300: Rise of an Empire debuted to strong numbers this weekend, even if it failed to match the boffo opening of 300. The sequel raked in $45.05 million from 3,470 locations (compared with the first film’s $70.9 million gross) and can largely thank 3D ticket sales for its high returns: 3D screenings accounted for 63 percent of earnings. Thirty-eight percent of the audience for Rise of an Empire was made up of women, an uptick from 300, which drew a crowd that was only 29 percent female. Viewers of both sexes awarded the movie a “B” CinemaScore grade, which isn’t great, and may portend a significant drop in sales over the coming weeks. However, it’s likely the film will continue to perform well abroad. Rise of an Empire may have fallen short of 300 here in the United States, but it out-performed its predecessor overseas. From 58 markets, Empire reaped $87.8 million. Russia led the international crowd with $9.2 million.

The weekend’s other wide release, Mr. Peabody & Sherman performed to 20^th Century Fox’s expectations, though it was still a disappointment for DreamWorks. The update on the classic cartoon grossed $32.5 million. That figure is an improvement over previous DreamWorks films Rise of the Guardians and Turbo, but it failed to match the highs of The Croods and How to Train Your Dragon, which both debuted to over $40 million. Those who did purchase tickets to the film, however, seemed to like what they saw: Audiences gave the movie an “A” CinemaScore rating. That’s a good sign so far as positive word-of-mouth goes, and could help propel the film to an eventual cume of $100 million.

The weekend’s third-place slot went to Non-Stop, which added another $15.4 million to a total that now stands at $52.1 million. The Lego Movie clocked in next with its $11 million gross, a downturn of 47 percent. That drop in sales is the hit movie’s steepest yet, and is probably thanks to competition from Mr. Peabody & Sherman. Lego’s total is currently $225 million.

In fifth place, Son of God earned $10 million, off 61 percent from last weekend. So far, the re-appropriation of The History channel’s “The Bible” mini-series has earned $41.5 million.

Finally, the weekend’s most exciting box-office news comes in the form of The Grand Budapest Hotel. This latest outing for Wes Anderson broke the record previously set by Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Master for highest-grossing limited live action debut ever (maybe it’s something in the directors’ shared name?). The Grand Budapest Hotel earned $800,000 in total, which works out to a per-screen average of a little more than $200,000 (the movie opened in four theatres, two in LA and two in New York, this weekend). Budapest will expand to 1,000+ locations over the coming five weeks.

 

Anderson signs up Hoffman to play 'The Master'

By Sarah Sluis

That other young Anderson director, Paul Thomas Anderson, has revealed details about his next project, as well as his star: Philip Seymour Hoffman.

Hoffman will play The Master (which may end up being the title of the film), a charismatic person who starts a spiritual organization that quickly gathers followers and turns into a religion itself. It's told through a relationship between the Master and his mentor, Freddie, who is increasingly skeptical of the whole project.

While so far it's being billed as entirely fictional, and explicitly stated as not inspired by Scientology or Mormonism, the Vulture Blog noted that the drama is set in 1952, the same year Scientology was founded. That makes the statement "the scrutiny isn't specifically directed toward faith-based movements like Scientology or Mormonism" sound like a preemptive defense against Scientology and its practitioners, many of whom are prominent in the Hollywood community. Case in point? When "South Park" broadcast its famous "Trapped in the Closet" episode parodying Scientology, a Scientologist cast member quit the show. A rebroadcast was canceled, leading to media reports that Tom Cruise, another Scientologist, had allegedly threatened to back out of his publicity obligations for Mission Impossible 3 (both were owned by parent company Viacom) if his demand was not met. He later denied the claims. And that was a television show. If Anderson's work draws the ire of Scientologists, it might have a rough time getting made in Hollywood. However, if the project is distancing itself from Scientology, it would seem wise for the religion to follow suit, rather than open itself up to any religious criticism in the script.

Potential Scientology controversy aside, the pairing of Hoffman and Anderson is the best thing this project has going for it. Hoffman has appeared in virtually all of Anderson's movies, though not in a leading role. He's also an old hand at religious leader parts, playing a priest in Doubt and a reverend in Cold Mountain. Besides ensemble-piece Magnolia, Anderson has a record of giving meaty, stand-out roles to his leading men (Daniel Day-Lewis in There Will Be Blood, Adam Sandler in Punch-Drunk Love, Mark Wahlberg in Boogie Nights). Hoffman's an unforgettable actor (and I once spied him at an ATM in the West Village on my way to work!) and this is just the kind of role that could add another Oscar to his bookshelf.