Although it’s been quiet on the XERXES front for a while, it would appear as though plans to turn Frank Miller’s upcoming graphic novel into a film are as firm as ever. The prequel to Zack Snyder’s mega-successful 300 is currently being prepped by the same producers (who also have the quite similar-looking IMMORTALS on deck for later this year), and their first order of business is a title change. No longer called XERXES, the film is now 300: THE BATTLE OF ATRIMESIA, the better to link it to the 2007 hit, I suppose.
There’s already a script written, by Snyder and his 300 co-writer Kurt Johnstad, but who will sit behind the camera? According to Deadline.com, there are two directors in the running. The first is Jaume Collet-Serra, who is on a pretty good run, having directed ORPHAN and UNKNOWN back-to-back for Warner Bros. (the same studio behind this flick). The other contender, Noam Murro, is more of a wild card. Murro only has one big screen directorial credit on his resume, the 2008 dramedy SMART PEOPLE, but he’s a veteran commercial helmer with a veritable truckload of impressive ads. He’s also in line to direct DIE HARD 5 for Fox, although that’s coming together slowly.
In terms of the plot of XERXES (the book), here’s what Miller had to say to the L.A. Times last year: “The time frame begins 10 years before 300 and the story starts with the Battle of Marathon, which was killer to draw, by the way, even if it was a lot of work. 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’s well on his way to godhood by the end of the story.”
We’ll let you know when 300: THE BATTLE OF ATRIMESIA really gets into fighting shape.
300’s sexy star, Lena Headey