There’s just no getting around it. 300 kicked all sort of formidable ass. The movie was not only a beautiful and faithful translation from the printed page of Frank Miller’s brilliant graphic novel, but it was also breathtaking to look at, listen too and feel.
Now as most of you know (SPOILER for the 32 of you on the planet who haven’t seen the original movie), King Leonidas dies bravely at the end of the first movie by being shot by about 4298 arrows. He’s dead… not mostly dead… not sorta dead… DEAD.
Now here’s the strange part… we all know that Frank Miller is currently working on a graphic novel sequel to 300 that, if all goes according to plan, Zack Snyder would then turn into a sequel movie. Ok sure, sounds great. But now it’s being suggested by the movie’s producer that Leonidas (played by Gerard Butler) could be brought back from the dead for the story. The good folks over at Live For Film give us this:
“Frank Miller’s working on something,” revealed producer Mark Canton when MTV spoke to him, telling them that he’s onboard to return for Snyder’s 300 sequel. “That, Zack has said.”
“Things are always looking good with ‘300,’ it’s a blessing and a gift. Zack’s a genius, and no matter where you go it’s the one movie that people around the world seem to somewhat identify with the most,” explained Canton “We’re thrilled for [a sequel]; it’ll be a blast. There’s a new Blu-Ray coming out all over again shortly, so that’s great. It’s like the gift that never stops giving.”
“[The key to the sequel] is about getting it right, you know,” the producer said of their dilemma after having killed off virtually the entire cast in the first film. “Frank is a perfectionist, and so is Zack. And I think they set the bar pretty high.” Canton had the surprising news that even Gerard Butler’s King Leonidas could be brought back from the dead. “Never assume anything; never assume anything,” he repeated when I asked if the original cast were gone for good. “It’ll be what it’ll be. But if we really do it, in this case, we have a visionary creator and a visionary filmmaker.”
Whoa… brining Leonidas back from the dead? Doesn’t that seem a little… I don’t know… Search For Spock-ish?
If (and that’s a BIG IF) this is true, I’m willing to give Miller (as a writer) the benefit of the doubt and wait to see what sort of plot device he comes up with… but I’m still a little skeptical. What do you think?
