Eva Green Could Play In 300: The Battle of Artemisia

Eva Green in conversation at a restaurant in Casino Royale.
(Image credit: Danjaq, LLC and MGM)

You may recall that women didn't play a particularly large role in Zack Snyder's 300. Sure, Lena Headey had that sex scene with Gerard Butler in the first act, but 99% of that movie was scantily-clad men doing battle with other scantily-clad men. Hence why it's a bit of a surprise that one of the first casting announcements for the movie's follow-up, 300: The Battle of Artemisia, is for the lead actress.

THR has learned that Eva Green is now in talks to star in the 300 prequel. Noam Murro (Smart People) is attached to direct the project, which has yet to find its male lead. The movie will feature Xerxes and the Persians going up against yet another understaffed Greek army, only instead of King Leonidas leading the charge it will be a general named Themistokles. The trade also says that the battle in the prequel will be occurring at the same time as the major battle in the first film (I'm not really sure how that will work). Green's character is described as " a ruthless, gold-covered goddess who persuades Xerxes to amass his army and helps lead them into battle."

So will she basically have the same appearance as Angelina Jolie's character in Robert Zemeckis' Beowulf? If that 's the case, I am totally on board. Perverted jokes aside, Green is an immensely talented actress and while I find it hard to have too much hope for the prequel, getting her on board would definitely be a major plus.

Eric Eisenberg
Assistant Managing Editor

Eric Eisenberg is the Assistant Managing Editor at CinemaBlend. After graduating Boston University and earning a bachelor’s degree in journalism, he took a part-time job as a staff writer for CinemaBlend, and after six months was offered the opportunity to move to Los Angeles and take on a newly created West Coast Editor position. Over a decade later, he's continuing to advance his interests and expertise. In addition to conducting filmmaker interviews and contributing to the news and feature content of the site, Eric also oversees the Movie Reviews section, writes the the weekend box office report (published Sundays), and is the site's resident Stephen King expert. He has two King-related columns.