The sequel to Zack-Snyder's 2006 epic '300' hit theatres globally this past weekend and it seems cinemagoers have been equally waiting to see what the Spartan warriors do next, as '300: Rise Of An Empire' storms to No.1 at the North American box office.

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The Noam Murro-directed movie earned $45 million since being released on Friday (March 10th).

"This far exceeded our expectations," said Jeff Goldstein, executive vice president for theatrical distribution at Warner Brothers. "Clearly we captured a much broader audience than we anticipated."

Watch the trailer for '300: Rise Of An Empire' here

In the first movie, King Leonidis (Gerard Butler) marched 300 Spartans to fight in the fictionalized retelling of the Battle of Thermopylae against King Xerex's Persian army. The sequel depicts the Battle of Salamis and sees the 'god King' attempt to further conquer Greece.

Eva Green
Eva Green as Artemisia

Led by Greek general Themistokles (Sullivan Stapleton), the nation's residents attempt to join forces and stop the Persians invading their lands in an epic blood-thirsty battle as both army's commence the battle in a naval fight.

But do the mourning Spartans choose to join the rest of their fellow Greeks?

The sequel introduces a brutal and barbarous naval commander Artemisia (Eva Green), as well as Hans Matheson and also sees the return of Lena Headey, David Wenham and Rodrigo Santoro.

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Lena Headey and Sullivan Stapleton in the sequel

Turn over to see the rest of the weekend's results