EXCLUSIVE: Luc Besson built his EuropaCorp action formula by hatching great plots and then finding a repertory of good actors who can translate to action stars, such as Liam Neeson, Jason Statham and most recently Scarlett Johansson. Now that he and partner Christophe Lambert are moving that formula to fill their own…

In this week's podcast, Deadline International Editor Nancy Tartaglione and host David Bloom look at what's behind the big buying spree in U.S. and European TV production companies, try to make sense of Bruno Wu's latest complicated and confusing international deal and note another win for the U.K.'s booming production…

2ND UPDATE: 12:35 PM PT MONDAY: Actuals are starting to roll in for the weekend’s movies. Holdover 300: Rise Of An Empire was slightly up from estimates, taking $41.6M versus $41.3M from 62 markets for an international cume of $159.6M. Russia remains its top territory with $14.6M. Its worldwide chest is now at about…

After 300: Rise Of An Empire had an opening-week global gross of $136 million and resuscitated the franchise potential of a first film that ended with a bloody pile of 300 dead Spartans, the town is asking: who the heck is this Sullivan Stapleton, avenger of Spartans, scourge of Persians and the latest guy in town…

6th UPDATE, MONDAY 9:09 PM PT: Updated numbers for Best Picture Oscar winner 12 Years a Slave and Pompeii have been added below. 12 Years a Slave‘s cume internationally is now $104.5M and its worldwide total stands at $157.6M. 5TH UPDATE, MONDAY 12:20 PM PT: Warner Bros and Legendary Pictures’ 300: Rise Of An Empire…

OPENING: 300: Rise of An Empire (WB) commands $43M to $45M and ended on the high end; Mr. Peabody And Sherman (FOX) $29M to $31M and made $32.5M; Son of God (FOX) dropped 61% in its second weekend. NOTEWORTHY:  Best Picture winner 12 Years A Slave (FOX) re-upped to 1,065 screens and breaks back into the top ten. The Gr…

EXCLUSIVE: In the world of film score composition, musician-composers usually resort to Avid’s Pro Tools and plug-ins. As a pianist-composer myself and a lover of film scores, I found this quite innovative from 300: Rise Of An Empire composer Tom Holkenborg, known as Junkie XL. He is a former Dutch producer-engineer…

UPDATE, Friday 4:15: Around the world, Warner Bros and Legendary Pictures‘ 300: Rise Of An Empire is grossing huge numbers. In 32 markets, it has taken in a hefty $12.1M over two days in international release, with $9.5M coming from Thursday alone. The film, playing on 1,083 screens, is roughly 20% ahead of the…

Another huge box office is on the way this weekend as tracking for Warner Bros’ 300: Rise Of An Empire (from Legendary Pictures) could be $40M-$45M, with Fox’s Mr. Peabody And Sherman roughly around $30M-$35M. But the story of this week is Divergent, which looks to be a whopper of a box office hit two and a half weeks…

Cinemax‘s first primetime drama series Strike Back had been filming its 10-episode fourth and final season in Bangkok, Thailand when one of its two stars, Sullivan Stapleton, suffered a serious injury while exploring the town in his free time. As a result, filming of the series will take a six-month break so he can…

Here’s the new trailer for 300: Rise Of An Empire. The spinoff from the 2006 pic stars Sullivan Stapleton, Rodrigo Santoro, Eva Green, Lena Headey, Hans Matheson, David Wenham, Jack O'Connell, Andrew Tiernan, Igal Naor and Andrew Pleavin. This version shows Headey's queen at what appears to be her husband's funeral…

Warner Bros has released a new trailer for 300: Rise Of An Empire. The Legendary Pictures follow-up to the 2006 pic focuses action on the sea as Greek general Themistokles (Sullivan Stapleton) tries to unite all of Greece by leading the charge that will change the course of the war. Themistokles is forced to face off…