Snyder has been a fan of graphic novels since he was a kid, even before Frank Miller was a household name. "As a kid my mom bought me graphic novels. My mom bought me Heavy Metal and didn't realize it was adult. I thought it was really cool and encouraged her to buy it; she tried buying me X-Men and no one had sex or was dying so it didn't hold my interest."
Snyder who had an incredibly successful career as a commercial director first broke as a feature film director with Dawn of the Dead. He had wanted to direct a Miller project for some time.
"I wanted to make any (Frank) Miller novel into a movie. "300" was talked about and (Gianni) Nunnari got the rights… it was scary, but the idea of making it was something I was really passionate about."