Once Warner Bros. decided to tap Jaume Collet-Serra to direct a somewhat scaled down $90 million adaptation of Akira (see “Jaume Collet-Serra to Direct Akira”), it was almost inevitable that Smart People helmer Noam Murro was be given the task of directing the 300 sequel now that Zack Snyder, the director of the original 300, has his dance card full with The Man of Steel (see “Xerxes Close to Getting a Director”). 

 

Murro’s lone U.S. directing credit, Smart People, was a well-received indie comedy from 2008 that starred Dennis Quaid, Thomas Haden Church, Ellen Page, and Sarah Jessica Parker.

 

300: Battle of Artemisia is based on Frank Miller’s 300 prequel/sequel Xerxes, which is currently appearing in Dark Horse Presents. Zack Snyder and Kurt Johnstad, the same team that scripted 300, have written the screenplay for Battle of Artemisia, and, according to The Hollywood Reporter, Murro is expected “to shoot Artemisia in the same stylized vein as Snyder did 300.” And why not?  The budget-saving "green screen" projection method used to shoot 300 gave the film a cool "graphic"  look and held the film's cost down to just $65 million to produce and the movie earned $456 million worldwide at the box office—and it also made Miller’s 300 hardcover the bestselling single graphic novel of 2007.