Counting Down to 300 Sequel
For Greece! For glory! For ripped guys in skimpy armor!
Legendary Pictures and Warner Bros. are looking for a plot to hang a follow-up to 300 on, as they try to repeat the surprise blockbuster success of the 2006 flick adapted from Frank Miller’s graphic novel.
Fanboys will be heartened to know that, according to Variety, original director Zack Snyder is being wooed for the next installment, which will be based on a new graphic novel from the acclaimed comic-book writer.
The problem is exactly who will be going to war this time around, considering nearly all of 300’s main characters were killed off at the end of the first film, including Gerard Butler and his heroic pecs. Butler’s testosterone-fueled King Leonidas led Sparta’s small yet fierce army in a doomed but inspiring standoff against the Persians in the Battle of Thermopylae.
Miller must work out whether the new saga will be a prequel, a sequel or a possible spinoff headlining those who survived the brutal fighting, and whether there will be a number referenced in the title (150? 600? 3,000?).
The 300 follow-up isn’t the only swords-and-sandals epic in the works. Legendary is also hatching a remake to 1981’s Clash of the Titans under the direction of The Incredible Hulk helmer Louis Leterrier. Relativity Media, meanwhile, is developing a project entitled War of Gods. No word when those will unspool.
Snyder’s next film, Watchmen, an action sci-fi fantasy following a vigilante who investigates the murder of an ex-superhero, hits theaters next March. And Miller is set to make his directing debut with an adaptation of his graphic novel The Spirit, due out this Christmas.
War Of Gods vs. Clash Of The Titans!
As well as discussing 300, producers Mark Canton, Gianni Nunnari and Bernie Goldmann spoke to Collider about another upcoming project of theirs, War of Gods. The movie (not to be confused with the game God of War) is another Greek epic about a war between Gods and humans. They are aiming to start filming at the beginning of 2009, and it will be filmed in a similar style to 300.
Yesterday Variety reported that Warner Bros. have signed The Incredible Hulk director Louis Leterrier to direct their remake of Clash of the Titans. While both War of Gods and Clash of the Titans will have different plots, storylines and subject matter, they both evolve around Greek mythology. This has inevitably caused a battle of epic proportions, with both movies wanting to be released first. If the general public see two trailers for two different movies about similar things, they usually go to see the movie released first. Everyone saw Madagascar over The Wild, and Finding Nemo over Shark Tale. There were also two movies released within a year of each other about Truman Capote. Which one got all the attention and Oscars? The one released first staring Philip Seymour Hoffman.
Obviously other factors contribute, such as the actors and marketing. However, if two movies both include Zeus, Gods and monsters then the one with the earliest release date will have the advantage. At the moment it seems War of Gods has the advantage, as a filming start date is in place, while Clash of the Titans has only just been greenlight with the arrival of Hulk director Louis Leterrier.
May the battle commence!
The Incredible Hulk: What Did You Think?
Today, The Incredible Hulk opens in face of months of fanboy speculation (early consensus is quite positive), the looming memory of Ang Lee’s Bruce Banner, M. Night’s worst R-rated movie, and the celebration of Jason Voorhees. We want to hear what you thought of the big budget Marvel/Universal film all weekend long.
Things to consider: Is this the Hulk we’ve been waiting for? Better than Ang Lee’s? Was the CGI up to snuff? Is Edward Norton the definitive Banner? Does Norton have good reason to remain displeased with the film’s editing? How does Louis Leterrier’s film rank against Jon Favreau’s Iron Man and which film did you enjoy more? Is this a better film than Iron Man as some viewers are saying? Was Liv Tyler’s character just another damsel in distress or did she offer something different? Tim Roth, one of the great comic-to-film villains? And what about Captain America? Tony Stark?
Peter Parker Could Have Been In The Incredible Hulk!
We’ve been hearing rumours of a possible Captain America cameo in The Incredible Hulk recently (apparently its nothing more than serum), but one we haven’t heard of before is that fellow Marvel character Peter Parker could also have been in The Incredible Hulk.
Marvel are doing the cool thing of crossing characters over films, we’ve seen Captain America’s shield in Iron Man, then we will see Tony Stark in Hulk and now director Louis Leterrier revealed to MTV information on another interesting cameo…that didn’t happen…
“The University at the end [where Banner meets with Samuel Sterns] is Columbia University. Columbia University in the Marvel world, especially in the ‘Spider Man’ world, is Empire State University,” the director explained. “I wanted some kind of shot where you’re like, ‘Oh my god. Is that Peter Parker?’ That would have been fun!”
Unfortunately for Leterrier, crossovers begin and end with the properties Marvel has total control of – no matter how hard you ask. And “Spider-Man” all its many names, places, and stories therein, belong to Sony. But while he quickly realized that he wouldn’t be able to get Tobey Maguire (no matter how much he wanted to), Leterrier thought a compromise could be reached. No dice, he sighed.
“I just wanted to call it Empire University – to treat it like a coherent world,” he recalled. “And Sony, who has the rights to Spidey, didn’t want us to do that. It was a small thing but something we couldn’t do.”
Still, Leterrier is such a fan of comics, and the new combined Marvel universe in particular, he’s already jealous of the director who one day, he knows, will get to do what he couldn’t.
“Marvel is pretty good at doing their own movies and so eventually the studios will allow them to chaperone the production of [all of them],” he said. “Years from now you’ll see Peter Parker meeting Bruce Banner.”