First Look at Frank Miller's '300' Prequel, 'Xerxes'

Frank Miller's first order of business related to another 300 movie was to come up with the graphic novel, which presumably, Zack Snyder would also direct. Rather than going forward with the stories of the Spartans, or moving backward to see where they had come from (with no Gerard Butler, more than likely), Miller has gone a completely different route: Xerxes.
Click for More Xerxes You remember Xerxes, right? I think he won American Idol last year. Miller tells The Los Angeles Times that the prequel focusing on The Big X begins a decade before the events in 300, and while it might have a similar appearance to the movie that kicked off the latest (mostly underwhelming) trend in sword n' sandals movies, the nature of the story is completely different.

"[It] starts with the Battle of Marathon. 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."

Honestly, this is probably the best bet for the film, and that's probably the reason the graphic novel is going the same direction. You can always have Leonidis in a prequel comic, but not so much the movie, I don't think; Butler has downplayed the importance of continuing that story and any real interest he might have in it. But this angle could work, supposing they don't overthink what the movie's supposed to be. 300 worked because it's an easy story to follow with terrific visuals and some easily represented good and evil. So hopefully, they stay in the pocket for the prequel.

Comments

[SEAN]

ughhhh shoot me now

[Richard]

Bad idea. Hey Frank Miller & Zack Snyder scrap this and get to filming Ronin.

[Jeremy]

I think it's safe to say that this is one of those things that will either be really good, or just really really bad.