Blog Number 12 - Gerald Butler to portray King Leonidas in '300' movie

'Variety.com' announced recently that Scotsman Gerard Butler will appear in Frank Miller's '300' which has been scheduled to begin shooting in Montreal on October 17th. Butler has been chosen to portray King Leonidas, leader of the 300 Spartans and supreme commander of the united Greek forces which fought at Thermopylae in 480 B.C.

Will Gerard Butler and the cast of '300' achieve more success than 'The Phantom of the Opera'?

Blog Number 11 - Budget for '300' movie, $60 million

The latest word is that filming will begin on Frank Miller's '300' on October 17th, 2005 in Montreal with a budget of $60 million. The movie, according to 'The Hollywood Reporter' will incorporate the use of 'green screen technology' similar to what director Robert Rodriguez used for another Frank Miller movie, 'Sin City'.

Since '300' will be shot using this format, the background scenery which will be added later could be accurately recreated to portray the battlefield of Thermopylae as it appeared in 480 B.C. In one of the next several posts, I will show the artist Stanley Meltzoff's depiction of the battlefield of Thermopylae in 480 B.C. so that it can be seen why this battlefield was chosen by the Greek forces to meet the numerically superior Persian army.

Do you think $60 million will be enough to make this film appealing?

Blog Number 10 - '300' movie in Canada, 'The 300 Spartans' in Greece

I was disappointed when I first heard that Frank Miller's '300' would be filmed completely in-studio in Canada. 20th Century Fox's 'The 300 Spartans' was filmed in Greece which I felt lent a nice touch of realism to the 1962 movie version of the Battle of Thermopylae. Even if the clashes between the Greeks and Persians aren't filmed at the actual battlefield, I was hoping that most of '300' would be shot in Greece as its predecessor. I thought perhaps some of the exterior shots could be filmed in Sparta or near other Greek locales that are intrinsic to this heroic story, however, according to the latest news that doesn't seem like it will be happening.

As far as filming at present day Thermopylae is concerned, over the millenia the landscape has changed drastically, rendering it unrecognizable to those who have read Herodotus or other authors' accounts of this battle. One positive note to be gained out of filming it in-studio is that it will be possible with the aid of computer imagery to replicate the terrain so as to provide a reasonable facsimile of how the battlefield looked in 480 B.C.

Anyone interested in this genre of movies only has to look at 'Gladiator' to know that much is possible with today's computer enhancements. That being said, I would rather have an accurate looking battlefield which is integral to the story of the Battle of Thermopylae than having it filmed in Greece. I'll still be disappointed about not having it filmed in the land where these heroic warriors fought and died, however, all will be forgotten by the critics and masses, myself included, if the finished product is somewhat true to the essence of the story. Remember, this is Hollywood that we are speaking about!!!

I don't expect a 'factual' account of the battle, especially since this movie will be an adaptation of Frank Miller's '300' comics and not the works of Herodotus. Then again, 'The 300 Spartans' had several inaccuracies, however, for the most part, the underlying theme of the movie was the bravery and self-sacrifice of the Spartan warriors and that is what meant the most to me.

If this movie version which is scheduled to be released in 2006 conforms to Frank Miller's '300' comics, this theme will be visited once again. '300' will attract a new audience that might not be as familiar with events of 480 B.C. and undoubtedly will be viewed by many of the devotees of the original movie and the works of Herodotus.

Do you believe that they should have filmed most, if not all of '300' in Greece or does it not matter? I'm curious about this one!

Blog Number 9 - Filming location for '300' movie; it's not Thermopylae

When it was first reported, Frank Miller's Battle of Thermopylae saga, '300', was to have been shot entirely in-studio in Vancouver, Canada. The latest news from 'The Hollywood Reporter' reports that instead of being filmed in Vancouver, it has now changed to Montreal.

Well at least the location of the filming is headed in the right direction; EASTWARD!! If they keep moving in this direction, by the time they start filming the movie in October, perhaps they'll end up shooting it in Greece, or at least part of it.

How do you feel about the movie being filmed in Canada as opposed to Greece?

Blog Number 8 - Sienna Miller as Queen Gorgo in '300' movie???

As reported initially by 'The Daily Mirror', Sienna Miller was cast as Queen Gorgo, the wife of King Leonidas of Sparta in Frank Miller's '300'. However, it seems that Sienna Miller (no relation to Frank) won't be playing the role as originally reported. This was the first major cast announcement, which just goes to show how volatile the movie industry is and how things can change so quickly. I for one and I'm sure many others are hoping that the 2006 premier will still hold true!

Incidentally, the role of Queen Gorgo in 1962's 'The 300 Spartans' was played by the Greek actress, Anna Synodinou.

The role of Queen Gorgo in 'The 300 Spartans' was a minor one. Do you think that the role will be more significant in '300'?

Blog Number 7 - Warner Bros. '300' movie screen test

According to an interview which appeared at UGO.com, Tyler Bates who is the composer of '300' said that the screen shot that was submitted to Warner Bros. by Zack Snyder was a single unedited shot which was over a minute and a half in length.

Bates also said: 'We see a line of the Spartans line up against the army of 10,000 Persians ready to invade. It was really fantastic. I was really blown away and, like I said, there were no edits in the whole shot, so it was really cool.'

After reading this part of the interview, the screen shot which was submitted seems to be the clash between the 300 Spartans and the 10,000 Persians known as 'The Immortals.' This was also a pretty memorable seen in 'The 300 Spartans' when the elite of the Persian army meet up with the elite of the Greek army. It was NO CONTEST!!!

The battle between the 'Immortals' was the highlight of 'The 300 Spartans'. Do you think it will be once again?

Blog Number 6 - Tyler Bates, Composer for '300' movie

It was confirmed recently that Tyler Bates who was the composer for Zack Snyder's remake of the 'Dawn of the Dead' will handle the same responsibilities for Frank Miller's '300'. I'm hoping that the Snyder/Bates collaboration attains the same type of success in this movie about the battle of Thermopylae as other movie-making tandems such as Robert De Niro/Martin Scorcese, Johnny Depp/Tim Burton, Denzel Washington/Spike Lee and let's not forget Woody Allen/Woody Allen.

Will the Tyler Bates soundtrack be as memorable as the music to 'The 300 Spartans'?