Variety is reporting that a TV series adaptation of the Dark Horse comic and Zack Snyder film 300 is in early development at Warner Bros. Television. While plot details are still being worked out, sources say the show would act as a prequel to the 2006 film.
No writer or stars are currently attached to the project and deals are still being negotiated, but Zack Snyder, who directed and co-wrote his film adaption, is in talks to direct and executive produce the series. His wife and collaborator Deborah Snyder, who served as executive produced for the film, would also return as an executive producer under her and Zack’s Stone Quarry production banner.
300 was based on the graphic novel of the same name by Frank Miller and Lynn Varley. Their story was loosely based on real historical events as well as the 1962 Rudolph Maté film, The 300 Spartans. Both focus on King Leonidas leading a small force of elite soldiers, 300 men, against the exponentially larger Persian army of Xerxes the Great.
In the film, Gerard Butler starred as Leonidas, and became a massive hit upon its release. The movie launched Butler into superstardom and spawned several parodies and homages in pop culture at the time.
A sequel, 300: Rise of an Empire, was released in 2014, but focused on General Themistocles, played by Sullivan Stapleton. The movie was based on Miller’s Xerxes graphic novel and works as a prequel and sequel to the previous book. The film was less well-received than the original but still grossed $337 million worldwide on a $110 million budget.
