In the battle at Thermopylae in 480 BC, the plucky and outnumbered Spartans put up a valiant fight against the massive army of Persian invaders.
But at the box office over the weekend, there was no contest for "300," the film adaptation of Frank Miller's graphic novel about the celebrated Greek battle.
The movie broke records with ticket sales of $70 million in the U.S. and Canada, according to Sunday's estimate from studio Warner Bros.
Fueled by months of feverish buzz from Internet movie fans, the violent and stylized "300" scored the highest March opening ever, topping last year's "Ice Age: The Meltdown."
Averaging a whopping $22,567 per theater, the epic also notched the biggest debut weekend of this year, easily topping "Ghost Rider."
Last weekend's leader, the motorcycle comedy "Wild Hogs," finished a distant second, and the family adventure "Bridge to Terabithia" was third.
"This was like a summer weekend," said Mark Canton, one of the producers of "300." "This kind of excitement is good for the whole business."
He said director Zack Snyder's vision struck filmgoers as bold and different, much like the original "Batman" and "Matrix" films and 2005's "Sin City," which also was based on one of Miller's graphic novels.
"Everybody let Zack make exactly the movie that was in his head," Canton said of the $64-million production with a little-known cast. "It was like a harmonic convergence."
The film's underdog theme also hooked moviegoers, Canton said. In the ancient battle, some 300 Spartans took on a horde believed to exceed 1 million.
Snyder had been best known for TV commercials and the 2004 version of "Dawn of the Dead," but the buzz for "300" has been building steadily since the film was promoted at last summer's Comic-Con, the annual comic-book convention, in San Diego.
Warner Bros., which also marketed the film heavily on MySpace.com and with trailers featuring Nine Inch Nails music, had expected an opening in the $35-million-to-$40-million range.
"This is further proof that nothing is more powerful in this business than word of mouth," said Dan Fellman, the studio's president of domestic distribution.
Imax locations accounted for $3.4 million of the total, Fellman said. That was a record for the giant-screen theaters.
Sell-outs at Imax and other locations started with Friday morning's midnight showings.
Audiences for the R-rated "300" were 60% male and 52% under age 25, Warner Bros. estimated.
