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300 is one of my favorite movies. The film’s visual style is enough to warrant repeat viewings, but then you realize that the Frank Miller story is also excellent. The story is a warrior’s exaggerated narrative of the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 B.C. where King Leonidas and a force of 300 men battled with the Persians, led by the giant Xerxes. The tale is told by a lone warrior, sent back by King Leonidas, to the rest of the Spartan army as they prepare to march against the Persians.

While Zack Snyder did a great job with his 2004 remake of Dawn of the Dead, it was this follow up feature that really showcased how visually stimulating he could be as a director. He took a beloved graphic novel and made it come to life, essentially using the source material as the story boarding for the film.

Frank Miller followed up the success of the movie by creating a graphic novel prequel entitled ‘Xerxes’ and it was originally going to be directed by Zack Snyder himself. With Zack accepting directing duties on Superman: Man of Steel, Zack has now had to back out of directing the prequel. Deadline is now reporting that the producers of the project, including Zack (who helped adapt the graphic novel into the screenplay), have changed the name of the project to 300: Battle of Artemisia and they are currently eyeing two different directors:

The producers of the 300 spinoff known as Xerxes have retitled their film 300: Battle of Artemisia, and they have also narrowed their focus of potential directors to two: Noam Murro and Jaume Collet-Serra. The film, a spinoff to 300, is one that the film’s original director Zack Snyder was going to direct. That was until Warner Bros and producer Chris Nolan offered him Man of Steel, and Snyder and wife and producing partner Debra Snyder put Xerxes aside and moved on to rebooting the Superman franchise because Warner Bros needed it. The

Snyders have been all over this director selection process. Snyder had written a script with his 300 cohort Kurt Johnstad. Like 300, it is based on a Frank Miller graphic novel that will be shot with the kind of stylized period green-screen action visuals that became the signature of 300 and helped the film gross $456 million worldwide. Xerxes was the Persian leader seen in 300. Miller’s graphic novel told the story of how Xerxes became this peculiar god-like entity.

A quick IMDB search brings up a rather sparse directorial background for Noam Murro, showing only the 2008 Smart People, and a few projects in production or pre-production including the untitled 5th installment of the Die Hard franchise. Jaume Collet-Serra seems to have a more robust resume, having directed the 2005 House of Wax remake, Orphan and Unknown as well as many commercials, music videos and a TV series in post-production entitled The River. While neither of these directors have an extremely lengthy resume, it is important to remember that neither did Zack Snyder when he made 300 and that movie pretty much solidified his career.

I am intrigued to say the least. As I stated, 300 was one of my favorite movies, and while I am sad to think that Zack will not be returning for the prequel, at least he is staying on as a producer and it appears they are not going to try and shake up the formula. By keeping the same visual style of film-making, audiences will have a better time connecting the two films. No casting has yet to be announced.

What do you all think? Are you excited to see this prequel? What do you think of the title change? Which of these two rumored directors would you rather see get the job? Tell us in the comments.

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