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[Image]By Scott Bowles, USA TODAY

The stunning success of 300 this weekend will likely give Hollywood executives hope — and Hollywood directors migraines.
The historical epic about the famed battle between 300 Spartans and a massive Persian army took in $70 million, according to Nielsen EDI.

The debut was $20 million higher than the most optimistic analyst projections. It marked the third-highest R-rated debut, behind only Matrix: Reloaded and Hannibal. It was the largest March opening yet.
And it demonstrated that computer technology can help large-scale movies get made on the cheap. 300 was fimed in a warehouse in Montreal for $65 million, without a single frame filmed outdoors.
"I would hate to be a director who says he needs $150 million to make the next historical epic," says Paul Dergarabedian of industry tracker Media By Numbers. "Digital technology has gotten to the point where it's less expensive, but it's still delivering spectacle."
The film should give hope to the theater owners gathering today at the ShoWest convention in Las Vegas. They have been pressing studios to move quicker to the digital realm, which would allow theaters to receive their movies over the Internet, preserve the quality of the movies longer, and keep overall costs down, as theaters pay more for the rights to exhibit expensive films.
"It's hard to say whether we're ushering in a new age," says Dan Fellman, distribution chief for Warner Bros., which released 300. "But this is a great example of the kind of thing we're able to do with CGI."
The haul stunned some observers, who wondered if a B-list cast and a story about the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 B.C would be seen as a high-tech history lesson.
But the stylized violence and Matrix-like look of the film drew men in droves: about 60% of the audience was male.
Wild Hogs was second with a healthy $28 million second weekend, followed by Bridge to Terabithia with $6.9 million. Ghost Rider was No. 4 with $6.8 million and Zodiac did $6.77 million. Final figures are due today.