That Other Title Was Better
Earlier this spring, Marc Canton, producer of the upcoming “300” sequel “Xerxes” said that a script had been delivered by Zack Snyder and Kurt Johnstad, adding “I feel like it’s gonna happen and we’re close.” Well, they’re nearly there and it has a new title.
Deadline reports that the director’s chair has been narrowed down to two choices, none of the them with the name Zack or Snyder, who is obviously busy with “Man Of Steel.” Who is going to make ancient warriors grease up and yell in the movie that’s now titled “300: Battle Of Artemisia“? Either Jaume Collet-Serra or Noam Murro. The former is a very hot ticket around town these days thanks to the success of “Unknown” and he’s been lining up a number of projects including the vampire pic “Harker” and the Jean-Pierre Melville remake “Red Circle.” As for Murro, he’s a bit more under the radar, but his work on the most recent campaign for the videogame “Halo” earned him massive attention and helped get him in the director’s chair for “Die Hard 5.”
As Frank Miller revealed last year, “300: Battle Of Artemisia” will start at the battle of Marathon a decade before Thermopylae, and “will be the same heft as ‘300’ but it covers a much, much greater span of time—it’s 10 years, not three days. This is a more complex story … so much larger.” It features gods and warriors galore (Xerxes is pursuing godhood), and Miller hinted at a potentially massive set piece involving either or both of the Athenian and Persian naval fleets.
So who should get it? We sort of don’t care and we’re pretty sure we’re going to be done with seeing the whole gods/warriors thing after the double dose of “Immortals” and “Wrath Of The Titans” both hitting theaters in the upcoming twelve months. But hey, that never stopped Hollywood and someone is gonna make this thing anyway.
