Xerxes script in the works

Xerxes, a graphic novel prequel to 300 written by Frank Miller, will be released as a six-part tale sometime next year. Zack Snyder has been saying from the start that he intends to make Xerxes into a film, and it was just a matter of Miller finishing the story.

Now in a recent interview Snyder confirmed that work on the Xerxes script has started, and while he hasn’t signed up to direct, he intends to.

From Hero Complex:

It’s official: Zack Synder, the director of “300,” is going back into battle on the side of the ancient Greeks — and Frank Miller. “We closed the writing deal on ‘Xerxes.’ We started writing about a week ago,” Snyder said, referring to his script work with “300″ collaborator Kurt Johnstad. “So we’re doing it. It’s happening.”

Snyder has a first-look deal with Warner Bros. and the presumption is that Snyder will direct this film, but that’s not a done deal yet.

“It’s really going to depend on what the studio wants to do and what we do when we finish; I don’t have a directing deal in place but we are writing it, so call it intent,” Snyder said with a chuckle when I visited his office the other day. “If there was a crime they could probably convict me.”

Last month Miller revealed a few details on what Xerxes will involve, and who we can expect to show up:

The time frame begins 10 years before ‘300? and the story starts with the Battle of Marathon” … “The lead character is Themistocles, who became warlord of Greece and built their navy. The story is very different than ‘300? in that it involves Xerxes search for godhood. The existence of gods are presupposed in this story and the idea is that he is well on his way to godhood by the end of the story. With Themistocles I have a character who is almost the dead opposite of Leonidas in that Themistocles was a lying, conniving, brilliant, heroic figure. He was nicknamed ‘The Subtle Serpent’ and he always manages to do the exact right things that will result in him benefiting greatly.”

Miller also said two other characters from 300 will make appearances in Xerxes: Ephialtes, the Spartan traitor, plays a part in the tale and there is “a brief appearance by Leonidis,” the Spartan king portrayed by Gerard Butler. I wonder if Butler would be interest in returning if his character is only in it briefly? There is also a possibility that Rodrigo Santoro could return as Xerxes.