Gerard Butler and Lena Headey Will Have Roles in 300 Sequel
Posted 09.13.11 by BrentJS
Ever since director Zack Snyder first expressed his interest in directing a sequel to his 2007 sophomore effort 300, the question that has been bedeviling fans has been whether or not Gerard Butler would somehow be able to reprise the role of Leonidas, king of the Spartans, despite the fact the character died at the end of the first movie. Butler said that he would be game for a return to Sparta, and Snyder teased the possibility of Leonidas' return when he revealed that 300: Battle of Artemisia (formerly Xerxes) takes place during "the exact same three days" as the events in 300. Now, we have the first confirmation that not only Leonidas, but also his wife, Queen Gorgo, were written into the sequel, opening the way for both Butler and Lena Heady to return.
In a recent interview with Movies, producer Bernie Goldmann said "there's a small part for Lena" and a "small part for Gerry" in 300: Battle of Artemisia, but stressed that the cast would most likely consist of "unknowns," just like the first movie.
We went and tried to get all these stars in [300] and nobody believed in the movie, we didn’t have all the money to pay anybody so we had to cast all these unknowns.
When you make a period movie like that, it's great not to know the actors. For me, as an audience, it always brings me into the movie more. You can't see Tom Cruise in a historical movie. You go, "That's Tom Cruise!"
When asked about the tone of the sequel, Goldmann did not answer directly, but implied that it would retain the same stylized fantasy elements of the original.
The cool thing about 300 was that our point-of-view going into that movie was we don’t have to be historically accurate and we created an incredible amount of freedom in telling a war story. It became a movie about telling the story to the truth before you go fight a battle and when you tell that story, you're going to exaggerate because you want to get men fired up to go kill. So you could make the movie operatic.
The script for 300: Battle of Artemisia was written (with Kurt Johnstad) by Snyder, who is producing the movie with his wife, Deborah Snyder. Snyder initially planned to directing the movie but was forced to drop out due to his commitment to direct Man of Steel. In his place, Israel-born director Noam Murro (Smart People) will take the helm. Like 300 before it, 300: Battle of Artemisia is based on the the works of comic book visionary Frank Miller (Sin City).