300

300 (2007)

Timing: 1:57 (117 min)

7.196/10
14617

7.649/10
300990

7.6/10
909000

All about film

Video 16

Photo 144

Actors and characters

Release date

2007-03-07

Country

Bulgaria, Canada, United States

Production

Warner Bros. Pictures, Cruel & Unusual Films, Legendary Pictures, Nimar Studios, Virtual Studios, Hollywood Gang Productions, Atmosphere Entertainment MM

Genre

Action, Adventure, War

Budget

$65 000 000

Revenue

$456 082 343

Website

http://300themovie.warnerbros.com

Director

Zack Snyder

Actors

Gerard Butler, Lena Headey, Dominic West, David Wenham, Vincent Regan, Michael Fassbender, Tom Wisdom, Andrew Pleavin, Andrew Tiernan, Rodrigo Santoro
All actors and roles (10)

Scenario

Producer

Gianni Nunnari, Jeffrey Silver, Bernie Goldmann, Frank Miller, Ben Waisbren, Thomas Tull, William Fay, Scott Mednick, Deborah Snyder, Craig J. Flores

Operator

Larry Fong

Composer

Tyler Bates

Artist

Audition

Carrie Hilton, Kristy Carlson, Andrea Kenyon

Editing

William Hoy
All team (238)

• To physically prepare the actors for the demanding and ruthless combat scenes, Snyder enlisted the support of two professionals he had worked with for many years: Mark Twight, a former world record holder in rock climbing, who was tasked with training the actors and stunt performers and monitoring their physical condition, and veteran stunt coordinator Damon Caro, who was responsible for preparing them for the battle scenes.
• To visually distinguish the Spartan army from the Persian army, the Spartans were dressed in clothing of bright, warm, 'earthy' tones, while the Persian costumes used peacock colors, exotic greens, blues, and purples with a golden sheen.
• Xerxes' meticulously designed costume, made almost entirely of metal, was based on an illustration taken from Miller’s graphic novel. The design of Xerxes’ costume, conceived by Wilkinson, can rightfully be considered the most complex in the entire film. “His costume consists of eighteen different parts with the use of jewels, each of which required dozens of African and Middle Eastern beads, sequins and embroidered ornaments, plus twelve piercing holes completed the look of this particular character.”
• Filming lasted 60 days – almost all work on the material was done against blue (90% of screen time) and green screens (10% of screen time) in Montreal studios. In addition, two days were spent filming outdoors – scenes involving horses were shot.
• Subsequently, the film crew spent two additional days in Los Angeles re-shooting some scenes.
• The film contains 1523 editing cuts and 1006 visual effects. For comparison, Steven Spielberg's "War of the Worlds" used approximately 500 visual effects.
• Post-production of the film took almost a year.
• Ten studios specializing in the creation of visual effects were involved in the work on the film.
• The script required most of the male actors to be constantly shirtless in front of the camera to match Frank Miller's graphic novel. For this reason, the main cast underwent rigorous physical training six weeks before the start of filming.
• Sienna Miller and Silvia Colloca were considered for the role of Queen Gorgo.
• The first footage was shown in July 2006 at the annual Comic-Con Convention in San Diego. The reel had to be played three times – such was the enthusiastic reaction from the audience.
• Frank Miller was inspired to write his comics by watching the 1962 film 'The 300 Spartans'.
• In one interview, director Zack Snyder stated that the film does not claim historical accuracy: the main emphasis during production was placed on the spectacle of the picture.
• The first 90-second test reel was shown to Alan Horn and Jeffrey Robinov, executive producers at Warner Bros. Pictures. After viewing, the project received the green light.
• The song featured in various trailers is by Nine Inch Nails and is titled “Just like you imagined.” It is one of the tracks from their double album “The Fragile,” released in 1999.
• Translated from Greek, Ephialtes means nightmare.
• Initially, the film was intended to be released with a “PG-13” rating. However, Zack Snyder was unwilling to accept this and issued an ultimatum to the studio. WB had to agree to the director’s wish to make the film with an “R” rating. As subsequent events proved, this decision was entirely justified – the film set several unique box office records, which is a tremendous success for what is typically a “dead” month like March.
• The list of those killed by King Leonidas includes 33 Persians, one Persian messenger, and one wolf. However, this number does not include the Persians whose bodies Leonidas used as shields during battle scenes.
• The words "Sparta" and its derivatives are pronounced 75 times.
• Zack Snyder's son played the role of young Leonidas – during the scene of the children's fight.
• The senate scene, as well as the scene of the rape of Queen Gorgo, was written specifically for the film. Additionally, Miller's graphic novel featured far fewer monsters – the only monstrous creature in the entire comic book series was Ephialtes.
• Xerxes' carefully designed costume, made almost entirely of metal, was based on an illustration from Miller's graphic novel. Wilkinson's design for Xerxes' costume can rightfully be considered the most complex in the entire film. "His costume consists of eighteen different parts using jewels, each of which required dozens of African and Middle Eastern beads, sequins, and embroidered ornaments, plus twelve piercings completed the look of this particular character."