300 was a film that truly cemented the careers of its leading players back in 2006, with Zack Snyder getting noticed in a big way for the first time, and actor and actress Gerard Butler and Lena Headey both making a real name for themselves.
Movies.com now report that although Snyder won’t be returning to direct, concentrating on helming the upcoming Superman film Man of Steel, we may be seeing Butler and Headey returning for small roles.
The original film managed to go so far beyond most people’s expectations for it, turning a $65m. budget into almost half a billion dollars, and putting Snyder’s name on the map as a brilliant director. With Snyder now busy on Man of Steel, Noam Murro (Smart People) will be filling the director job, from a script co-written by Snyder and Kurt Johnstad, based on a forthcoming graphic novel by Frank Miller.
Battle of Artemisia is a prequel to the original film, so Gerard Butler’s lack of surviving the Battle of Thermopylae in 300 shouldn’t be a problem. The roles they’ll play are described only as small parts, but seeing Butler and Headey in these terrific roles again should be brilliant, no matter how small the part.
Producer Bernie Goldmann says that with the first film, they tried to get big names for the cast, but had little success in making people believe in the film, and so they found success with Butler and Headey, not quite so well known at the time. His description of the experience suggests we might be in for having lesser known faces cast for the prequel too:
“When you make a period movie like that, it’s great not to know the actors… For me, as an audience, it always brings me into the movie more. You can’t see Tom Cruise in a historical movie. You go, ‘That’s Tom Cruise!’”
If that’s the case this time around, then this could definitely be a film to launch a very successful career for a new set of actors and actresses, and even for director Murro, with this film marking his follow-up to his 2008 debut, Smart People. 300 was a lot of fun when it came out a few years ago, so whilst prequels and sequels are often a little questionable, Battle of Artemisia could well be something to look forward to.
