300 was one of those iconic films that for all its flaws in story, features some truly mesmerizing action scenes and a distinct visual style that made it feel more like the graphic novel the story was based on and it was a formula that worked. Had those same actions scenes been brought to screen using more mainstream cinematography, it might have felt over the top, but the style helped it look fresh and with that comic book feel to it, you didn’t mind the ludicrous action scenes that were popping at your eyeballs.
And it seems, Zack Snyder, the director of the original movie and producer of its far less impressive sequel 300: Rise of an Empire is contemplating a return to the franchise, or at least the visual aesthetic and style that the film created. He is currently a busy man, having directed the soon to be released Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and working heavily on the next Justice League film, but that isn’t stopping him from already planning some of his future projects.
In talking with Collider the filmmaker mentioned that he was open to possibility of further entries in the 300 franchise, but that it would probably be better to focus on a different setting for the next films.
There may be. There may be. We’ve been talking a lot about sort of different incarnations of ‘300.’ We’ve been talking about is there a way, possibly, we move out of Ancient Greece and use it as a framing device for other conflicts that happened throughout history.
I’m not sure where they could be headed next, but history is full of mythological battles of immense proportions and I definitely think Ancient Greece could serve up many of those. Perhaps another retelling of Troy or the adventures of the great warrior Achilles or Hercules. There is a vast wealth of potential stories lying within that backdrop. But Snyder wants to make things even more international.
I think I mentioned that we talked about the Revolutionary War version, and we talked about the Alamo, and we’ve talked about there’s a battle in China, a ‘Lost Legion’ kind of concept, any of those kinds of things are on the table.
This would also be something unique to look at. The American Civil War has been portrayed many times in films, but never in the way Zack would look to tell it. Zack had previously mentioned a “300”-style take on a George Washington film in a recent Forbes profile:
We were talking about it. The first thing we asked was, well, how are we going to make it look? I pointed at this painting. It looks like ‘300.’ It’s not that hard.
What do you think, is the 300 franchise worth being further expanded to other pieces of history or do you think the look and visual style should stay within the context of the Spartans, which was the original setting of 300?
Last Updated: March 23, 2016
