Ahoy, squirts! Quint here with a bit of news on the big screen adaptation of Frank Miller's 300! The DAWN OF THE DEAD remake's Zach Snyder is directing and now we hear that Gerard Butler (PHANTOM OF THE OPERA) will lead our 300 Spartans as King Leonidas thanks to Variety. I've only read the first 20 or so pages of Miller's work and I'm hoping for a great adaptation. I've seen some artwork from the film that looks really nice, but I'm one of those traditionalists that weren't very fond of DAWN OF THE DEAD... Snyder has his own style and hopefully it'll be suited to take on this project.
Gerard Butler (Phantom of the Opera, Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Cradle of Life) has been signed to star. Production will begin October 17 in Montreal.
The film tells the true story of 300 elite Spartan fighters who, led by King Leonidas (Butler), fought to the death against King Xerxes' massive Persian army during the battle of Thermopylae in 481-480 B.C. According to lore, their valor inspired all of Greece to rise up against the invading Persians, planting the seeds of democracy.
Snyder (Dawn of the Dead) and his writing partner, Kurt Johnstad, adapted the screenplay from Miller's graphic novel. Michael Gordon wrote a previous draft.
The studio said 300 will rely on hyper-real renderings similar to the stylized illustrations created by Miller for his book.
