Director Noam Murro On 300: RISE OF AN EMPIRE's Similarities/Differences From The First Film
Following the trailer for the sequel to Zack Snyder's lavishly directed 300, MTV got on the phone with director Noam Murro to discuss the details of what's going on with Rise Of An Empire. Hit the jump to check it out!
On when the film takes place specifically:
The idea of this movie was always that it takes place at about the same time of the first one. It's as if you zoomed out and saw a bigger time frame and told a bigger story of what happened in '300.' The first movie speaks to the detail of this sequel.
On where the film takes place:
I think '300' was wonderfully done in an operatic way, one location almost, and explore that. This is a much larger palette, historically and geographically. It is larger in scale, and it takes place on water.
On the challenges of shooting the film:
The challenges are numerous in a sense that as technology develops, what happens is we shot this entire movie dry, meaning there was no water involved. You are really in a situation that you have to create a sense that the boats are really moving and sense that they are really in water, but they're not. It's a challenge from a technological point of view, from a visual point of view, also for the actors and also for me in terms of trying to simulate what that would feel like.
On extending the first film even further with the sequel:
I think that was the great thing about working with Zack and working with the studio. The idea was always to create a point of reference of the old movie, but technologically and visually push it further up the hill. It really is quite a difference in the way that it feels and looks. It does happen in water, and geographically, it is open. I think we've pushed it from a visual spectacle uphill, but the roots of this tree are grounded in the '300' world. We wanted to create different styles of battles, and there are very distinct ones in this movie. There's the fire battle and the fog battle.
On the two new leads of the film and why they are there and were Xerxes Fits In:
The two new characters here are Themistocles and Artemisia. Those two characters are at the heart of this movie and are really driving it. I don't want to spoil it, but the heart of the movie is between these two characters. You'll feel Xerxes' presence, but it's really Themistocles and Artemisia's movie. From a thematic point of view, he's truly important part of this movie.
After its victory over Leonidas' 300, the Persian Army under the command of Xerxes marches south towards the major Greek city-states. The Democratic city of Athens, first on the path of Xerxes' army, bases its strength on its fleet, led by admiral Themistocles. Themistocles is forced to an unwilling alliance with the traditional rival of Athens, oligarchic Sparta whose might lies with its superior infantry troops. But Xerxes still reigns supreme in numbers over sea and land.