There were a few rumours circling around the announcement of a prequel or the widely successful comic adaptation 300. Firstly people though it was simply announced as a reaction to the success of the film, the producers assure us that it is in fact going to happen and are enthusiastic it will be just as awesome, seeing as they are putting effort into an original premise instead of a rushed blockbuster sequel. Secondly, it was reported that the title of the movie would be Xerxes, this has also turned out to be false as they have admitted to not having a title for the project as yet.
Mark Cayton (producer) has stated that Zack Snyder (who directed 300) will be leading the way with the second instalment and will have a great deal of creative control, which is music to 300 fan’s ears as the news that Guy Ritchie was going to take over the project made them shake a bit. The story will be written by original 300 scribe and comic veteran Frank Miller, he has recently elaborated on what the plot entails.
“The story will be the same heft as ‘300′ but it cover a much, much greater span of time — it’s 10 years, not three days… This is a more complex story. The story is so much larger. The Spartans in ‘300? were being enclosed by the page as the world got smaller. This story has truly vast subjects. The Athenian naval fleet, for instance, is a massive artistic undertaking and it dwarfed by the Persian fleet, which is also shown in this story. The story has elements of espionage, too, and it’s a sweeping tale with gods and warriors. The new tale climaxes with a massive naval confrontation that is so dense that it is fought like a land war and it ends on the same day as the events of 300.
…the story starts with the Battle of Marathon” … “The lead character is Themistocles, who became warlord of Greece and built their navy. The story is very different than ‘300? in that it involves Xerxes search for godhood. The existence of gods are presupposed in this story and the idea is that he well on his way to godhood by the end of the story. With Themistocles I have a character who is almost the dead opposite of Leonidas in that Themistocles was a lying, conniving, brilliant, heroic figure. He was nicknamed ‘The Subtle Serpent’ and he always manages to do the exact right things that will result in him benefiting greatly.”
I have great confidence in this new installment into the 300 mythos. If the original author is involved then you can faith that the story will not disappoint you and the popular visual style will be the same as will the effects style. Looking forward to this one.
