Called it! Where is our mighty, gleaming trophy? All right, we’ll accept a book token… Yesterday, when the new teaser poster for **300: Rise Of An Empire arrived on the web, we predicted that it heralded the first trailer, especially given current trends. So it has come to pass with an orgy of toned torsos, swinging weapons and geysers of blood.
Taking a clear cue from Zack Snyder’s slo-mo / ramped action, sweeping vistas, big blokes and beautiful woman approach in 300, the sequel – directed by Noam Murro – finds Greek general Themistokles (Sullivan Stapleton) attempting to unite all of Greece by leading the charge that will change the course of the war. Set roughly concurrently, (though with some parts after) Leonides’ battle in the original, this story pits Themistokles against the massive invading Persian forces led by mortal-turned-god Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro), and Artemisia (Eva Green), vengeful commander of the Persian navy.
This time, though, the focus is more on aquatic battle than dusty sand scraps (though there’s plenty of that too). "The challenges are numerous in a sense that as technology develops, what happens is we shot this entire movie dry, meaning there was no water involved," Murro tells MTV. "You are really in a situation that you have to create a sense that the boats are really moving and sense that they are really in water, but they're not. It's a challenge from a technological point of view, from a visual point of view, also for the actors and also for me in terms of trying to simulate what that would feel like."
And while Gerard Butler isn’t back (save for a brief shot of him lying dead, at least in the trailer), Lena Headey takes a sabbatical from being evil on Game Of Thrones to be heroic as Queen Gorgo, encouraging the troops to triumph in the name of vengeance and justice.
The film is out in the US on March 7 next year, and should open around that time here.