It appears that Guy Ritchie will not be directing the adaptation of Frank Miller’s Xerxes. In spite of a report on New York Magazine’s Vulture site yesterday that Ritchie had been offered the directing job by Warner Bros. (see “Guy Ritchie Offered Xerxes?”), a studio spokesman told Entertainment Weekly that the Sherlock Holmes helmer had not been “formally offered the job.” Note the weasel-word adverb “formally,” which certainly opens the door to the possibility that the Vulture story might have had some basis in fact.

 

According to the EW story Zack Snyder remains attached to the Xerxes project, which makes sense given the success of the Snyder-helmed 300, but the director won’t be able to start working on Xerxes until sometime in 2012 after he finishes with Superman, which pretty much insures at least a six-year gap between 300 and Xerxes.

 

Meanwhile comic book fans will be able to get a preview of Miller’s Xerxes in the revived Dark Horse Presents, while the six-issue Xerxes saga itself will launch later this year from Dark Horse.