Ancient epic "War of Gods" follows "300" path
By Steven Zeitchik
NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) - The producers of "300" are taking another trip to an epic battlefield.
Gianni Nunnari and Mark Canton will produce "War of Gods," a story with a similar scope and tone to the last year's ancient saga, which earned more than $450 million worldwide.
"War of Gods" concerns the battles waged by Theseus, a warrior from Greek mythology, who leads a fight against the imprisoned titans.
Among the hooks is that, unlike some mythological tales, gods fight alongside mortals. That moves the film into a different historical time than "300" -- which concerned the battles of King Leonidas against the Persians -- but ensures a similar vibe and young-male demo. It will be shot by music videos veteran Tarsem, who directed Jennifer Lopez in "The Cell."
A number of studios were interested in the project since it went out about a week ago, but independent financier Relativity Media won the rights after offering a mid-six-figure advance and committing to make the movie quickly. Principal photography is set for as early as the first quarter of 2009.
Warner Bros., which distributed "300," was interested in "Gods" and at one point considered buying the project and using the script in place of the one it had for its planned remake of "Clash of the Titans." In the end it opted to stick to its original plan, and recently attached "Incredible Hulk" director Louis Leterrier. "Titans" is scheduled for a 2010 release.
Reuters/Hollywood Reporter
