'300' Sequel Officially in the Works

Image credit: 300: Warner Bros. Ent.

(FROM VARIETY) — Legendary Pictures, the production company behind the 2007 blockbuster 300, has confirmed the inevitable: Development of a sequel is underway. The project will begin as a graphic novel that Frank Miller, who penned the comic on which the movie 300 was based, is writing. There's some speculation that it could be a prequel, since most of the characters in 300, about the ancient Battle of Thermopylae, perished at the end of the story. Thus, there's no word yet on whether star Gerard Butler will return as King Leonidas.

Zack Snyder, who directed 300 to a $456 million worldwide gross, won't board the project until after he's read Miller's manuscript. In the meantime, Snyder is putting the finishing touches on the film version of another hot comic property, Watchmen, which is due to be released next March, two years to the day after 300 hit theaters. Though Hollywood pundits have always assumed that a follow-up to 300 would be in the offing, serious chatter about the project only heated up last week, when Snyder and others discussed it at the Saturn Awards. (Variety)