It's a battle for Australian actor supremacy! Well, not exactly, but last year Joel Edgerton, the Australian actor who rose to prominence after the success of Animal Kingdom, was attached to star in 300: Battle of Artemisia. A sequel to Zack Snyder's hit 2007 film full of bare chested Spartans, Noam Murro(Smart People) was set to direct. Eventually, Edgerton also became attached to an adaptation of The Man From U.N.C.L.E., but since he's now starring in Kathryn Bigelow's Osama Bin Laden film he didn't take either role. Now one of his Animal Kingdom castmates, Sullivan Stapleton, has stepped in to take his place.
Variety reports Stapleton will lead the film, which now is officially untitled. When first presented, the plan was for this to be a prequel to 300, following the Persian ruler, Xerxes. Now it appears that Warner Brothers are unsure of when the story actually takes place, and won't classify it as a prequel, sequel, or spinoff. That leaves Staplton's role up in the air at this point, although Deadline says he will in fact play Xerxes. We do know that Eva Green will play Artemisia, the gold covered goddess who persuades Xerxes to embrace his destiny and take on the world.
Based on an upcoming graphic novel by creator Frank Miller, the script was co-written by Snyder and Kurt Johnstad. When filming will begin is unclear, but you can bet Warner Brothers wants to see this one kick off sooner rather than later. This is by far the biggest role of Stapleton's career, which has stalled out in the last couple of years. He's currently starring in the Showtime series, Strike Back, and will have a small role in Gangster Squad.
