The depicter of Xerxes states that the epic movie will be a spin-off to '300' since it is set at the same time as the fight in the Zack Snyder-directed film, but is taken from a different angle.
- May 7, 2012
AceShowbiz - It's been quite while since fans last heard about the development progress of "300: Battle of Artemisia", but Rodrigo Santoro has offered some updates. The depicter of king-turned-god Xerxes confirmed that the epic mythology movie will kick off shooting in a foreseeable future, and clarified that it will be more like a spin-off to "300" than a prequel or sequel.
In an interview with Collider, Santoro spilled, "We start shooting in July. They're working on the very, well you never know, but last draft of the script." Speaking of the "Battle of Artemisia" itself, the 36-year-old actor explained, "I think they're calling it a spin-off because it's not exactly a prequel, it's not a sequel."
"It takes place in the same time, you start a little earlier but then you see that it's like a different point of view, a different camera, a different angle," he elaborated. "While that battle was happening, the one that you saw in 300, there was another battle happening next to it and you will have a chance to see all of that happening and how they interact. I don't want to ruin it."
Discussing the plot details of the forthcoming film, Santoro said, "There are working on, right now, trying to explain it, I think they will try to do a little backstory on Xerxes and they will explain how he became 'the God King', which I'm excited about."
On how he will play the fabled Persian king for the second time, the actor admitted, "I don't know what it's going to be. I've never played a character twice. It's interesting. I think the challenging thing for me now will be to try to bring something new for the fans, for the audience and for myself just to make it interesting to play it again."
Asked how he prepared himself to return as Xerxes, Santoro responded, "I've got to be honest, it's a real hard process to get there, not only working out like crazy, [but also] shaving. I've got to shave all over my body. It's a really intense, bizarre character, so it's a lot of work to get there."
"Make-up: like five or six hours of make-up every day," he continued. "When you see it, it looks cool, but there's a lot of work behind it. That's all very challenging and I'm looking forward to it. I hope it's going to be great."
"Battle of Artemisia" follows Persian king-turned-god Xerxes who leads an army against Greek forces. Though having a little training, the Greek army are led by a great general named Themistocles. Written by Zack Snyder and Kurt Johnstad, the movie will be directed by Noam Murro.
