“300 More” Becomes Official

After Zack Snyder let it slip last week at the Saturn Awards, Legendary Pictures has confirmed that they are, in fact, developing a sequel to the smash hit 300. Let me be the first to say: Uh, okay.

I loved 300. Yeah, it was thin on story, but it was one of the few instances where style genuinely was substance. We hadn’t seen anything like it before, and the innovative visuals were a big, gory, joy to behold. Gerard Butler was perfectly cast, the weird heavy-metal score was electrifying, and the pseudo-facist macho caricatures practically sprayed testosterone from the screen (yes, I’m counting that as a positive). In short, the flick worked, and delivered exactly what we hoped for.

But where will a sequel take us? All the heroes from the first movie are dead (except the one-eyed bard). Maybe the sequel will give us the naval Battle of Salamis, where Xerxes first got his butt handed to him, or the Battle of Plataea where he was finally defeated by the Spartans. Or maybe they’ll do both, and turn it into a trilogy. It might be interesting to see a naval battle done in the style of 300, but I really don’t think we need a rehash of the land battle. It’s been done, and we’ve all got the DVD.

Frank Miller is on board to write once again, and Zack Snyder is interested in returning to the director’s chair, provided the story is up to snuff. If they’re gonna do it, I wish them well, and will hope for the best, but like last week’s Bourne news, this just feels so cynical. Did anyone walk out of 300 thinking, “I can’t wait for part two?”

Bourne 4 News (and Thoughts on Indy 5)

IESB has posted a brief video interview with producers Frank Marshall and Pat Crowely, the guys who brought both Indiana Jones and Jason Bourne to the big screen.

Key tidbits include a confirmation of the rumors regarding a fourth Bourne movie. Marshall says they’ll be shooting next summer and aiming for a 2010 release. He also notes that while there was a fourth Bourne book, it wasn’t written by Robert Ludlum, and therefore they will dismiss it, opting instead to write an original script. He hints that Bourne may find himself in South America, because “that’s one place he hasn’t been.”

I have to admit, I’m skeptical about this. Bourne’s story has come full circle, and a fourth installment seems more like a blatant money-grab than an organic choice. Sending him to South America simply because he hasn’t yet been there seems indicative of this. Seriously, how arbitrary. At any rate, the script is underway, and though I’m too lazy to look up the link right now, I do believe Matt Damon has confirmed that he’s attached.

The two men also ruminate about a fifth Indiana Jones installment, and they both seem to dismiss the idea that Shia LeBeouf would pick up the mantle in Harrison Ford’s stead. I’m not a big Indy fan, but this should be good news to the hardcore fans who felt the final scenes of Crystal Skull were providing a segue for Indiana Jones: The Next Generation. Sadly, the producers don’t seem optimistic about the possibility of another Ford installment. Since it took them 19 years to come up with an acceptable script for the latest film, they don’t appear confident that another story is ready to be told. Truth be told, this is probably a good thing.

Batman Gonna Take A Beating

There are some people out there who believe Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight will be the highest-grossing film of the season. Those people are high. For every Batman fan who is studiously poring over back-issues of Detective Comics in preparation for the upcoming Bat-sequel, there are ten children and grandparents who will not venture into Gotham City this summer. What they will do, however, is line up in droves to see Pixar’s WALL•E.

By way of support, I provide you now with anecdotal evidence. My father, a 52-year-old bonified curmudgeon, has not viewed any movie trailer in the last ten years with anything other than codified disinterest. His disdain for crowded theaters and ambivalence about movies in general is becoming legendary. So imagine my surprise when yesterday he said:

Make some time this weekend. We’re going to see WALL•E.

Wha? When pressed about his apparent enthusiasm, he simply said, “It looks really good.”

Yes, Dad, it does. It looks beautiful, and funny, and supremely marketable. There is simply no chance that WALL•E is not the highest-grossing film of the summer, and probably the year. Everyone I know wants to see this movie, and Pixar’s history of delivering the goods will likely ensure excellent word of mouth, and long, long legs.

Warner Brothers has a done a terrific job of marketing TDK online, and as the film gets closer we’ll see the usual deluge of traditional marketing, but the dark tale of murder, mayhem and psychotic masqueraders simply doesn’t have same broad appeal of a funny little robot in love. Plus, hard as it may be to believe, there are lots of folks who have no idea what “viral marketing” is, and who’ve never heard of whysoserious.com.

Sorry, Bat-fans. I’m looking forward to The Dark Knight as much as you are, but the summer box office champion won’t be wearing a cowl.