“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?”