Tuesday, February 15, 2011 at 8:19PM '300' Sequel Gets Rolling, But is Snyder Out? And Who's That Coming In?
The creative mind that spawned the graphic-novel-turned-movie 300, Frank Miller, has already penned a sequel to his first epic, called Xerxes. Warner Brothers, obviously thrilled at turning the imagery of 300 into a franchise, is jumping at the chance to make a second film, and up until now, it seemed like Zack Snyder, director of the first film, was all set to gear up for the second.
I bet we could find a way to blame this whole thing on Gerard Butler.
But maybe not so much, anymore. Though Snyder said as recently as last summer that he was working on Xerxes, it now seems he’s stepping back from the project, and an interesting fella is now being rumored to take on the gig.
Word on the street is that WB, in losing Snyder, have offered Xerxes to Brit-crime comedy virtuoso and recent Sherlock Holmes re-inventor Guy Ritche, who’s current project, the tentatively titled sequel Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, is due out this coming December. Now, Ritchie is no stranger to slow-motion fight sequences, but is he really the right man to take over where Snyder left off? And why would Snyder pull out in the first place?
The reason Snyder’s unable to focus on Xerxes might be pretty obvious; it’s probably that other little project he’s working on for WB, called Superman: Man of Steel. The pressure he’s under to make a re-boot of that scale actually work, coupled with his post-production work on Sucker Punch, due out this March, doesn’t exactly leave him a lot of wiggle room for the graphic sequel.
Due to this, the studio would understandably hand the project over to another director. But Guy Ritchie? The guy who did Snatch? The question isn’t meant to discount his skills as a director, nor the entertainment value of any of his films (we’re gonna ignore Swept Away for the purposes of this argument,) but it’s hard to picture Ritchie doing this genre at all, forget doing it on the scale of the first film. Not to mention, I was excited to hear about Ritchie taking on Excalibur with Michael Fassbender, and this news can’t help but concern me that, with both films seeming so grandiose, one would suffer for the sake of the other.
At the end of the day, stepping down from Xerxes is probably a smart move for Snyder, who’s got a lot on his plate at the moment. And Ritchie, whether he’s doing a contemporary English crime-caper or a not-so contemporary English classic, is nothing if not a competent director. Though in this case, Ritchie stepping up in Snyder’s place could put him in danger of changing a lot of people’s minds about him, and not, I worry, in the way he’d hope.
Cristen J Brinkerhoff | Permalink | in 300, Guy Ritchie, News, Zack Snyder | Print Article | 5 Comments | Share Article 
Reader Comments (5)
i watched 300 movie some times, great movie! Gerard Butler pretty good plays King Leonidas
Yeah, Butler was good - I like how he used his Scottish accent to give weight to the 'This is Spara!' line (which is now the most recited line from the film.)
As for Xerxes, I think this might a good for one for Ritchie to do - it'll take him out his comfort zone, that's for sure.
I'd wait for more news to see who will actually be helming this, if it isn't Snyder. Still though, if they do it in the same style as "300", it's basically a movie done with little other than the actors and green screens - a concept and look that's frankly getting a little old, when it's done in that very obvious style of "green-screen movies" as I like to call them. Most movies are at the point anymore that they can well hide the fact that that is how they're putting their actors in some other place or time. "300" was the epitamy of that stylized look that a lot of early, completely digital movies, had. A different director may indicate they're going for a different style so that "Xerxes" can stand on it's own, without looking so much like a direct sequel/prequel to "300".
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