Gerard Butler to Star in Sequel to 300

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

New York, NY – It was announced that Warner Bros. Pictures, in association with Legendary Pictures and Virtual Studios, has signed actor Gerard Butler to star in the sequel to the popular 2006 film, 300.

The sequel, tentatively named 301, will painstakingly reenact the battle between a force of 300 Spartan warriors and the encroaching the Persian army at Thermopylae in 480 B.C.  In 301, they are led by the fiesty Queen Gorgom who, according to a source familiar with the script, opens up a can of kung-fu whoop-ass on the Persians. More surprisingly, however, King Leonidas, despite being killed in 300, spiritually guides these bloodthirsty Spartan warriors as a slightly flamboyant ghost.

“It’s the whole Sixth Sense meets Blade meets “Frat Pack” genre that’s so hot right now,” writer Frank Miller told reporters during the press conference at One Time Warner Center earlier today.  “And we’re not stopping there with major creative differences between 300 and 301 - we’re also going to make the classic Spartan red capes be candystriped. You know, for the holiday audiences!”

While most substantial details of the 301 script are being held as closely-guarded secrets, some details about Butler’s character reprisal have leaked.  According to entertainment news site The Daily Fix, King Leonidas’ haunting specter will cough throughout the film, speak with a bit of a lisp, and have a craving for cantaloupe.  Celebrated film critic Roger Ebert commented, “They’re taking some major risks with this historical docu-drama.  I would wager that it’s either going to be a work of genius, or completely fucked.”

Adding some gravitas to the ambitious $185 million project to be filmed entirely on a sophisticated Canadian sound stage, original 300 director Zack Snyder has also signed on for both 301 and the expected 302.  “Fans complained that the body count of 535 in the original film wasn’t high enough,” Snyder said. “I’m coming back to give the people what they want.”