300: Rise of an Empire
![Watch film 300: Rise of an Empire — 300: Rise of an Empire - Official Trailer 1 [HD]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/2zqy21Z29ps/maxresdefault.jpg)
Short description
300: Rise of an Empire is a war drama set in ancient Greece during the Persian invasion. The Greek general Themistocles leads Athens against the forces of Xerxes, the Persian king who has taken on the status of a god, and against Artemisia, the commander of the Persian navy. To have any chance against a far larger enemy, Themistocles tries to bring the divided Greek city-states together, while the fighting plays out both on land and at sea. The story runs alongside and around the events at Thermopylae, and the film is a follow-up to 300.
Noam Murro directed, working from a screenplay by Zack Snyder and Kurt Johnstad; Snyder also produced. It was Murro's second feature after Smart People (2008). Sullivan Stapleton plays Themistocles, with Eva Green as Artemisia, Lena Headey as Queen Gorgo, Rodrigo Santoro as Xerxes, Callan Mulvey as Scylias and David Wenham as Dillios. The film cost about 110 million USD and took roughly 338 million USD worldwide, a solid return on its budget.
Audience scores sit in the middle: 6.2/10 on IMDb from around 328,000 votes and 6.1/10 on TMDB from over 7,000 votes. Critics were less positive, averaging 5/10 across 197 reviews, below the viewer ratings.
What's left behind the scenes
- The lead role in the film was offered to Joel Edgerton, but he declined.
- The original script featured King Leonidas, but he was ultimately cut. This was due to Gerard Butler's refusal to reprise his role from the film '300' (2007).
- The film was initially titled 'Xerxes,' after the Frank Miller comic book on which the film is based. Later, a working title was '300: Battle of Artemisium.' Ultimately, the creators settled on '300: Rise of an Empire' because the other two were considered too exotic.
- Zack Snyder conceived the concept and wrote the screenplay with Kurt Johnstad, with whom he had worked on '300' (2007). Snyder was also offered the director's position on the project, but he declined due to his work on 'Man of Steel' (2013). Noam Murro was later brought on as director, but Snyder remained as a producer on the film.
- Jamie Blackley was initially cast as Calisto, but was later replaced by Jack O'Connell.
- Jim Jones (Gym Jones) was hired to train the actors for the sequel, as he was for the original film. Training took place both before and during filming to maintain physical fitness. Jim Jones himself agreed to work on the sequel due to his good relationship with the film's writer and producer, Zack Snyder.
- Jaume Serra was considered for the director's position.
- The film was initially scheduled for release on August 2, 2013.
- Matt Smith could have taken on a role in this film, but he declined. Ultimately, the role went to Hans Matheson.
- Although most of the film takes place on water and boats, filming was done entirely on land, with all the water added later using computer graphics. Director Noam Murro said this gave him a great deal of freedom.
- During filming, Rodrigo Santoro had makeup applied for 6 hours each day. And even after all the makeup was applied, he couldn't move much, because all the jewelry and piercings on him were very delicate and could break with his active movements.
- Due to the complex effects used to create Xerxes (a 3-meter giant), Rodrigo Santoro filmed almost all of his scenes alone in a room with a green screen and had little interaction with the other actors. He said it was difficult, but he was already familiar with it, as his scenes were filmed in exactly the same way in the first film.
- Sullivan Stapleton said he was very skeptical about whether he could achieve the six-pack abs required for his role. He thought some people had them naturally and others didn’t, and that he was in the latter group. But after undergoing a training course and achieving the desired result, he said he was pleased to realize that anyone can achieve a similar effect with proper training.
- Originally, the film was supposed to tell the story of Xerxes, played by Rodrigo Santoro in the original film, and his military campaigns. The plot underwent significant changes, and the script was revised several times to make the Athenian leader Themistocles, played by Sullivan Stapleton, the center of the story.
- The entire male cast of the original film "300" (2007) was well remembered for having prominently defined six-pack abs. This look was heavily advertised by the marketing department. Sullivan Stapleton revealed that he also had to get into similar shape for the sequel, as it was a requirement.
- During the preparation for this film, Sullivan Stapleton was filming the series "Strike Back" (2010). Therefore, along with filming, he underwent 3-hour workouts every day – 1.5 hours in the gym and 1.5 hours of sword training.
- In one shot (at the 90th minute), it is visible that the heroine Eva Green is wearing fishnet stockings, and after the scene change, her legs are already bare.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
