300: Rise of an Empire fights its way to box office number one

The 3D sequel to hit action film 300 has battled its way to the top of the North American box office chart, debuting at number one with $45.1 million (£28.19 million). 300: Rise of an Empire, based on the as-yet-unreleased Frank Miller graphic novel Xerxes, stars Lena Headey, Rodrigo Santoro and Eva Green in a fictionised re-telling of the Battle of Salamis between the Ancient Greeks and Persians.
Its success was more than enough to crush the closest competition, animated movie Mr. Peabody & Sherman, which opened at two with $32.5 million (£20.3 million).
Liam Neeson’s Non-Stop tumbled to three, while The Lego Movie and religious epic Son of God rounded out the new top five.
Meanwhile, Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel made box office history after earning $800,000 (£500,000) from its limited four-theatre release across New York and Los Angeles, averaging $200,000 (£125,000) per venue. The figure means the comedy drama scored the highest average gross of all time for a specialty title in North America.