Seven years is a long time between installments in a franchise. One has to worry about some audience erosion, especially when the main breakout star of the original doesn’t return. The sequel to surprise 300 may still have come a few years late, but even still, it’s a success as it easily lead this weekend against Mr. Peabody and Sherman, which had a solid debut all its own.

300: Rise of an Empire

The original 300 debuted to a potent $71 million back in 2007. It was one of the first real signs that March could be a big month, an idea later validated by the likes of The Mad Hatter Alice in Wonderland and The Hunger Games. And, although Rise of an Empire fell off quite a bit, its opening of $45.1 million is still solid, especially considering expectations were not good and many predictions had pegged it to make under $30 million. The stamina will probably be very poor, but even still, it’s pretty much guaranteed to get over $100 million.

Opening in second, we have Mr. Peabody and Sherman. This was clearly never going to be on the level of The Lego Movie or Frozen, but at least it handily beat The Nut Job. MP&S got off to a $32.5 million start. That’s good, but not great. The word of mouth does seem decent and I wouldn’t be surprised if MP&S ends up outgrossing 300: Rise of an Empire when all is said and done.

Dropping 47% to third, Non-Stop pulled in $15.4 million. Its total of $52.1 million through two weeks is up quite a bit over The Grey and Unknown and about even with the first Taken. The way things are looking, Non-Stop could end up around $80 million. The Lego Movie endured its first bad hold, 47%, but that’s not too surprising, as MP&S stole away a lot of family and child audiences. That said, TLM grossed $11 million this weekend, lifting its total to $225 million. I’m thinking it should finish around $260 million.

Son of God fell a hard 60%. I guess the faithful rushed out to see it on opening weekend. It made $10 million even this weekend, so it’s unlikely it could hang around long enough to benefit from Easter, barring a rerelease. The total stands at $41.5 million. In sixth, The Monuments dropped 37% to $3.1 million, bringing its sum to $70.6 million. 3 Days to Kill dropped fell 38% and also grossed $3.1 million. It has just $25.6 million in the bank.

Frozen stayed in eighth place for the fourth consecutive weekend. As other films come on and go, Frozen stays steady as its fans continue to push it toward the $400 million barrier. The recently-crowned Best Animated Feature winner slipped just 17%, grossed $3 million and raised its stunning total to $393.1 million. It probably only has one or two more weekends left in the top ten, but what a ride it has been.

Benefiting from a theatre expansion and a Best Picture win, 12 Years a Slave increased 123% to $2.2 million. It’s made a respectable $53.1 million to date. In tenth, we have Ride Along. The Kevin Hart film fell 34% to $2 million. It has amassed just under $130 million. On the strength of the openers, this ended up being a pretty solid week for March. I imagine Rise of an Empire could probably lead again next weekend, as it seems unlikely that Need for Speed nor The Single Moms Club will breakout. Then again, Tyler Perry has surprised me time and time again. Time will tell. Until we meet again.