300
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Short description
Based on Frank Miller's graphic novel, 300 retells the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 BC, when King Leonidas of Sparta led a small force of Spartan soldiers to block the vastly larger Persian army of King Xerxes at a narrow mountain pass. As the Persians press their attack and the defenders' position grows more precarious, Leonidas sends a messenger home to rally the Greeks, while he and his remaining fighters prepare to hold the pass to the end. Queen Gorgo, left behind in Sparta, contends with political opposition of her own.
Zack Snyder directed and co-wrote the film with Kurt Johnstad and Michael B. Gordon. It was his second feature as director, following Dawn of the Dead in 2004 and preceding Watchmen in 2009. Gerard Butler plays Leonidas, with Lena Headey as Gorgo, Dominic West as Theron, David Wenham as the narrator Dilios, Vincent Regan as the Captain and Michael Fassbender as Stelios. Roughly 83 cast members and 238 crew were credited.
Made for about 65 million dollars, the film took in some 456 million dollars worldwide, a return far above its budget. On IMDb it holds 7.6 out of 10 from about 909,000 votes, and on TMDB 7.2 out of 10 from around 15,000 votes, while a critics' rating of 6.5 out of 10 from 238 reviews places professional opinion somewhat below the audience scores. It runs 117 minutes.
What's left behind the scenes
- The first 90-second test reel was shown to Alan Horn and Jeffrey Robinov, executive producers at Warner Bros. Pictures. After viewing, the project received the green light.
- The script required most of the male actors to be constantly shirtless in front of the camera to match Frank Miller's graphic novel. For this reason, the main cast underwent rigorous physical training six weeks before the start of filming.
- The first footage was shown in July 2006 at the annual Comic-Con Convention in San Diego. The reel had to be played three times – such was the enthusiastic reaction from the audience.
- Zack Snyder's son played the role of young Leonidas – during the scene of the children's fight.
- Xerxes' carefully designed costume, made almost entirely of metal, was based on an illustration from Miller's graphic novel. Wilkinson's design for Xerxes' costume can rightfully be considered the most complex in the entire film. "His costume consists of eighteen different parts using jewels, each of which required dozens of African and Middle Eastern beads, sequins, and embroidered ornaments, plus twelve piercings completed the look of this particular character."
- Post-production of the film took almost a year.
- To visually distinguish the Spartan army from the Persian army, the Spartans were dressed in clothing of bright, warm, 'earthy' tones, while the Persian costumes used peacock colors, exotic greens, blues, and purples with a golden sheen.
- Subsequently, the film crew spent two additional days in Los Angeles re-shooting some scenes.
- To physically prepare the actors for the demanding and ruthless combat scenes, Snyder enlisted the support of two professionals he had worked with for many years: Mark Twight, a former world record holder in rock climbing, who was tasked with training the actors and stunt performers and monitoring their physical condition, and veteran stunt coordinator Damon Caro, who was responsible for preparing them for the battle scenes.
- Frank Miller was inspired to write his comics by watching the 1962 film 'The 300 Spartans'.
- The film contains 1523 editing cuts and 1006 visual effects. For comparison, Steven Spielberg's "War of the Worlds" used approximately 500 visual effects.
- Ten studios specializing in the creation of visual effects were involved in the work on the film.
- The song featured in various trailers is by Nine Inch Nails and is titled “Just like you imagined.” It is one of the tracks from their double album “The Fragile,” released in 1999.
- Translated from Greek, Ephialtes means nightmare.
- The senate scene, as well as the scene of the rape of Queen Gorgo, was written specifically for the film. Additionally, Miller's graphic novel featured far fewer monsters – the only monstrous creature in the entire comic book series was Ephialtes.
- Sienna Miller and Silvia Colloca were considered for the role of Queen Gorgo.
- In one interview, director Zack Snyder stated that the film does not claim historical accuracy: the main emphasis during production was placed on the spectacle of the picture.
- Initially, the film was intended to be released with a “PG-13” rating. However, Zack Snyder was unwilling to accept this and issued an ultimatum to the studio. WB had to agree to the director’s wish to make the film with an “R” rating. As subsequent events proved, this decision was entirely justified – the film set several unique box office records, which is a tremendous success for what is typically a “dead” month like March.
- Filming lasted 60 days – almost all work on the material was done against blue (90% of screen time) and green screens (10% of screen time) in Montreal studios. In addition, two days were spent filming outdoors – scenes involving horses were shot.
- The words "Sparta" and its derivatives are pronounced 75 times.
- The list of those killed by King Leonidas includes 33 Persians, one Persian messenger, and one wolf. However, this number does not include the Persians whose bodies Leonidas used as shields during battle scenes.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
