Guess I'm Not Alone or 'Eat It NYTimes'

Early showings for "300" film draw sell-out crowds

Fri Mar 9, 2007 6:54pm ET

By Steve Gorman

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The ultra-bloody warrior film "300," about a legendary battle between the Spartans and Persians, seemed headed for U.S. box-office glory on Friday with sell-out crowds flocking to early showings.

Imax, the giant-screen movie chain, reported that all 57 of its 12:01 a.m. Friday screenings of the Warner Bros. film had sold out as its advance ticket sales for the weekend hit a new record for the month of March.

"We had the most amazing night," said Greg Foster, chairman and president of Imax Filmed Entertainment, adding that many Imax theaters arranged 2:30 a.m. shows at the last minute to accommodate fans who failed to get into the midnight showings.

Many of the rest of the nation's 600 theaters with early morning shows also played to capacity crowds, said Dan Fellman, domestic distribution president for the Time Warner Inc.-owned studio.

"They were flocking everywhere, not just to Imax," he told Reuters.

While overnight business accounted for a fraction of the more than 3,100 North American theaters where "300" was opening on Friday, the early surge at the multiplex was a strong indicator that the film was poised for a robust first weekend.

Some box-office analysts predicted "300" could finish the weekend in the $50 million range, an impressive achievement for a March opening given the film's "R" rating and lack of stars.
...
"300" has received mixed reviews -- New York Times critic A.O. Scott called it "about as violent as 'Apocalypto' and twice as stupid" -- but has benefited from an aggressive Internet-based promotional campaign appealing to a younger, tech-focused crowd.

Well that's it then -- an aggressive Internet-based promotional campaign (I haven't seen one print or TV spot for this film) that appeals to a 'younger (?), tech-focused crowd" may be partially to explain things.

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