Warner's 300 thanks to '300'

Time Warner Inc.'s (NYSE:TWX) Warner Bros. pulled out another underestimated feather from its cap this weekend. Its gore and hack-fest film 300 has set what appears to be a record release for films in March. While the tally isn't in yet, Sunday estimates put ticket sales for the blood and gore movie (think Gladiator meets Sin City) at around $70 million. The movie's comic-book sequencing and graphic special effects allow decapitations and severed limbs to take on an entirely new light.

The best-guess estimate anyone had thrown out for the movie was up to $50 million. Its production costs on an end-to-end basis were roughly $60 million, putting the movie in the black after only three days. That is long before any DVD, video game or merchandise sales are registered in the coffers, either. It hasn't even opened in the UK as of yet. Analysts have been critical of Time Warner's movie revenues because there has been no Harry Potter nor Lord of The Rings to carry the rest of the movies. This will mark another major success for the unit.

For a company the size of Time Warner, one movie can't add enough to the bottom line to boost the earnings-per-share number. However, a successful movie can add up with others to contribute on the overage. It might also garner some stronger attention from analysts, who may have thought that only major franchise series movies can rule the roost.

One should also consider that this big surprise is coming in the last month of the quarter -- if this really racks up a huge profit in the next three weeks, analysts may have to increase some of their estimates. Two months ago and up until recently, the movie was not a write-off, but it wasn't expected to be nearly this big of a hit.

Here you can see the trailers and get soundtrack excerpts.