300: Rise of an Empire (March 7, 2014) Eva Green Gets Naked and it's Glorious

[6souls]

http://geektyrant.com/storage/0998-p...ed-is-kill.jpg
Director: Noam Murro
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1253863/
Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/300_(film)#Prequel (temp)

Synopsis:

Long Version

Spoiler: show

This movie follows Themistocles and the Battle of Artemisium, which coincidentally happens on the exact same three days as the Battle of Thermopylae [which was the basis of '300'], This one starts off with a quick retelling of the why of the Persian wars. It starts off at the Battle of Marathon and then it goes back to Themistocles finding out that Persians are invading again. and off we go over to learn a little bit about why Xerxes is the way he is.

Darius [the Persian king and father of Xerxes] gets wounded at Marathon and he's super cool and like a great guy. Even the Greeks are like, 'Darius is awesome.' After Darius dies, Xerxes is so distraught, but Darius had told him, 'Don't attack the Greeks, only a god can punish the Greeks.' So that's when he calls his mystics and wizards and says, 'Make me a god so I can avenge my father.'

What I said to the studio is that '300' gave everyone a chance to fight alongside a super warrior, a chance to fight alongside these Spartan warriors that you could never fight against; but Themistocles is different, he is us, It's much more about the everyman.

Themistocles is kind of the father of democracy. It's much more about these guys choosing. The Spartans are, 'We fight, we die,' so that's an easy choice for them, there's no surrender. The cool thing about Themistocles and his gang is that it's way more difficult. Things aren't as clear or unchallenged. He has to be more political to get everyone to agree. It's political, in the soap-opera sense of the word. There's a relationship with Leonidas ... and ... well, we'll see where it all goes.

Cast:

Sullivan Stapleton - Themistocles
Eva Green - Artemisia
Jack O'Connell - Calisto
Rodrigo Santoro - Xerxes
Andrew Pleavin - Daxos

Trailer:

Notes:


old article, since debunked

Spoiler: show

In a shocking twist of events, Warner Bros. has offered Guy Ritchie the directors chair for the sequel to Zack Snyder's 300 film, Xerxes! I didn't see this coming at all. I figured Zack Snyder would be the director to bring Xerxes to the big screen, after all he seems to have been involved and excited for it ever since Frank Miller announced he was writing the comic.

There are two theoires behind this little director switch-a-roo. The first is that the studio wants Snyder to focus his attention on getting the Superman reboot of the ground, and they also want to get Xerxes into production as soon as they can as well. He obviously can't do both, and according to Vulture, "Insiders say the closely-guarded script for Superman suffers from major third-act problems, and the studio faces a ticking clock on that franchise, legally speaking; if a Superman film isn’t in production by 2013, Warner Bros. loses the rights to the entire Superman franchise and would have to re-license it from its original creators — the estates of Detective Comics writers Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster — at great if not prohibitive expense." So it looks like Snyder has his work cut out for him.

The second theory presented is that Warner Bros. recently conducted some audience research screenings of Snyder’s Sucker Punch, and according to an insider the film tested poorly, saying, “It was bad; like, really bad. They’re [Warners brass] really not happy with it over there.” I don't know how true that is though because I know a few people who have seen it that say the movie is awesome, and if the film did test as bad as they say it was, then why is Snyder still on board to direct Superman which will be a huge film for the studio? On top of that Snyder's 300 was a pretty freakin' awesome movie, so why would the studio be affraid to bring Snyder into make a movie about a world he's already very familiar with? A movie they know he can deliver with no problems?

The second theory doesn't really make that much sense to me, so I have to go with the fact that he is going to have to focus all his attention and energy on the Superman film.

As far as Ritchie taking over the directors chair... that should be incredibly interesting to see what he could do with a movie like Xerxes.

Here's a description of the film that Snyder previously gave,

This movie follows Themistocles and the Battle of Artemisium, which coincidentally happens on the exact same three days as the Battle of Thermopylae [which was the basis of '300'], This one starts off with a quick retelling of the why of the Persian wars. It starts off at the Battle of Marathon and then it goes back to Themistocles finding out that Persians are invading again. and off we go over to learn a little bit about why Xerxes is the way he is.

Darius [the Persian king and father of Xerxes] gets wounded at Marathon and he's super cool and like a great guy. Even the Greeks are like, 'Darius is awesome.' After Darius dies, Xerxes is so distraught, but Darius had told him, 'Don't attack the Greeks, only a god can punish the Greeks.' So that's when he calls his mystics and wizards and says, 'Make me a god so I can avenge my father.'

What I said to the studio is that '300' gave everyone a chance to fight alongside a super warrior, a chance to fight alongside these Spartan warriors that you could never fight against; but Themistocles is different, he is us, It's much more about the everyman.

Themistocles is kind of the father of democracy. It's much more about these guys choosing. The Spartans are, 'We fight, we die,' so that's an easy choice for them, there's no surrender. The cool thing about Themistocles and his gang is that it's way more difficult. Things aren't as clear or unchallenged. He has to be more political to get everyone to agree. It's political, in the soap-opera sense of the word. There's a relationship with Leonidas ... and ... well, we'll see where it all goes.

http://geektyrant.com/news/2011/2/15...el-xerxes.html
http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment...00_sequel.html

[ZarakiKujata]

sounds kind of gay.

[Ragnus]

Eh...

[Dantrag]

SUCKER PUNCH BAD?!?!?! REALLY BAD?!?!?

[tyven]

they prob test screened with the wrong demographic

[6souls]

Warner Bros. has finally found a director for the 300 sequel, 300: Battle of Artemisia. Zack Snyder was set to direct it before he took on Man of Steel, but the WB didn't want to wait for him to make this 300 sequel so they had to pick someone to direct it for them.

Smart People director Noam Murro is the man who will take the Spartans into battle this time around. He was going up against director Jaum Collet-Serra (Unknown), but Warner Bros. recently hired him to direct the live-action adaptation of Akira. So it looks like each director got a nice little directing gig. An official offer will go out to Murro next week.

I haven't seen the film Smart People yet, so I'm not sure how good of a director he is, but I do know that Smart People is not a hardcore bloody action adventure film. I wonder if the studio will want him to mimic the directing style of Snyder so it's consistent with the first movie.

The film is based on Frank Miller's graphic novel Xerxes, which tells the story of how "Xerxes rose to power in fifth-century-BC Persia and became known as 'The King of Kings,' eventually raising and leading a massive army intent on ruthlessly destroying the hated Greeks who killed his father. Xerxes seeks nothing less than to become a god himself -- and achieves his wish!"

I thought 300 was an awesome film, and I think that this sequel written by Zack Snyder and Kurt Johnstad will make for a solid story. I love the actual history and mythology behind this story.

http://geektyrant.com/news/2011/7/15...-director.html
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hea...Top+Stories%29

[6souls]

http://geektyrant.com/storage/2011-p...leton_007.jpeg

Animal Kingdom actor Sullivan Stapleton has been cast as Xerxes in Frank Miller's sequel to 300, titled 300: The Battle of Artemisium. The actor will join Eva Green who was previously cast as Artemisia. Noam Murro (Smart People) will be replacing Zack Snyder in the director's chair this time around.

The story follows the Persian king-turned-god Xerxes as he leads "an army against Greek forces, who have little training but are under the guidance of a general named Themistokles. (The giant battle at the center of this movie is supposed to occur at the same time as the fighting in 300.)"

http://geektyrant.com/news/2012/2/8/...00-sequel.html
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hea...er+-+Movies%29

[Silenka]

Meh. Don't have high hopes for it but who knows.

[Timwakefield]

Zero chance I'd be able to sit through this without thinking about South Park the entire time.



YEAH SCISSOR!

[Sunrider]

So wait, is this meant to accompany Frank Miller's 300, or is this a stand-alone interpretation of the Persian Wars?

I'm hoping it's the latter, since the Frank Miller telling kind of hinged on it's low-characterization, high action atmosphere, where this new film promises to be more heavy on characterization and drama. It may turn off people if related too closely to the Zack Snyder-directed flick.

Second, if they dare call this a sequel/prequel and drop the clearly black Frank Miller Xerxes for a white guy, it's immediately lost my attention.

[ziegh]

He's black? http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0763928/ Kidding aside, I thought so when I first saw it since I was familiar with the actor and didn't recognize him as Xerxes

[Greedouw]

I think it would have been cooler if they did the Peloponnesian War

[Sunrider]

He's black? http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0763928/ Kidding aside, I thought so when I first saw it since I was familiar with the actor and didn't recognize him as Xerxes

Well damn, I stand corrected. CGI is a magic maker.

In that case, this new guy may not be such a ridiculous fit. Still think the story won't compare well with Frank Miller's 300. They'd be better off making their own, separate film on the Persian Wars.

[Brill Weave]

Pass. Not even remotely interested in this upcoming train wreck.

[Correction]

How many more times do we have to see people battling for Greece this generation?

[Obev]

How many more times do we have to see people battling for Greece this generation?

It's the lib'rul media, making us sympathise with those Athenian boy-lovers.

[Fiddle Sticks]

He's black? http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0763928/ Kidding aside, I thought so when I first saw it since I was familiar with the actor and didn't recognize him as Xerxes

WTF... My mind is blown, I remember that guy from lost, and had no clue he was Xerxes or that he was white for that matter.... It doesn't even look anything like him..... Crazy

I still just don't see it... They did a good job...

[6souls]

http://geektyrant.com/storage/2011-p...zQ5Mw._V1.jpeg

Jamie Blackley has landed the co-lead in the 300 sequel that Noam Murro will direct for Warner Bros and Legendary Pictures. In the Kurt Johnstad-scripted film, Blackley will play Calisto, a teen whose desire to become the heroic man/soldier his father was leads the 16-year-old to become a leader of a small band of soldiers. He’ll join Sullivan Stapleton, who got a lead last week in the next installment of the Zack Snyder-directed 300. Blackley just wrapped the lead in lead in the Andrew Douglas-directed uwantme2killhim?, the Bryan Singer produced film about a young man entangled in an unhealthy internet relationship that results in him committing a crime. He also played one of the leads in London Boulevard opposite Colin Farrell and Keira Knightley and he wrapped a supporting role in Snow White and the Huntsman. Blackley is repped by WME, Luber Roklin Entertainment and UK-based United Agents.

http://www.deadline.com/2012/02/jami...in-300-sequel/

[Greedouw]

I'm pretty sure Sullivan Stapleton will be playing Themistocles and NOT Xerxes

[6souls]

300: The Battle of Artemisium has been set to be released on August 2nd, 2013. The movie is being directed by Noam Murro and stars Rodrigo Santoro, Eva Green, Sullivan Stapleton, and Jamie Blackley. The movie is a sequel to Zack Snyder's 300, and follows the Persian king-god Xerxes as he leads "an army against Greek forces, who have little training but are under the guidance of a general named Themistokles. (The giant battle at the center of this movie is supposed to occur at the same time as the fighting in 300.)"

http://geektyrant.com/news/2012/3/22...ease-date.html