Joel Edgerton Passes on 300: BATTLE OF ARTEMISIA

Earlier this month, we reported that Joel Edgerton was in talks to star in the 300 sequel, 300: Battle of Artemisia.  Edgerton was up to play “Themosticles, the famed archon and general who led the Greeks to victory against the invading Persians in 480 BCE.”  But Variety’s Jeff Sneider has tweeted, “UPDATE: JOEL EDGERTON has passed on the 300 sequel.”

When Edgerton was replaced by Jason Clarke in Kathryn Bigelow‘s hunt for Bin Laden movie, I assumed that the problem was a scheduling conflict with 300.  However, it looks like he was never fully signed so I’ll have to keep puzzling over the mystery of why he dropped out of Bigelow’s movie.  Thankfully, Edgerton will most likely remain an in-demand actor who’s looking to break out big in the U.S., and he can do better than a sequel to 300.  Edgerton will next be seen in the family film The Odd Life of Timothy Green and Baz Luhrmann‘s adaptation of The Great Gatsby.