The first trailer for director Noam Murro’s sequel 300: Rise of an Empire has been released online.  If you loved the first movie for all of its oiled-up muscles, slow-motion battles and endless bloodletting, then it looks like the sequel is going to be right up your alley.  The trailer, expertly narrated by Lena Headey during what appears to be the aftermath of 300′s ultimate battle, reveals that the look and tone of Rise of an Empire appear to be quite consistent with the original.  This time around, however, we get new looks at Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro) on his home turf, General Artemisia (Eva Green) in all her fury and leagues upon leagues of sea battles.  And if I’m not mistaken, is that some dialogue from Ephialtes (Andrew Tiernan) we hear?

Hit the jump to watch the trailer.  Starring Sullivan Stapleton, 300: Rise of an Empire opens on March 7, 2014.

Mere moments after a new trailer dropped for director Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel, the multi-hyphenate took to Twitter to debut the first poster from another of his upcoming projects, 300: Rise of an Empire.  Snyder will be producing the sequel; at the helm is Noam Murro (Smart People).  We know that the sequel to 300 will feature a sea battle between the Greeks and the invading Persians.  Sullivan Stapleton (Animal Kingdom) steps into the sandals this time as Greek general Themistocles, who leads his soldiers against the vast army of the self-proclaimed god, Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro) and his own general, Artemisia (Eva Green).

300: Rise of an Empire, also starring Lena Headey, opens August 2nd.  Hit the jump to check out the poster and be sure to take a look at these previously released images from the film if you haven’t already.

The first images from director Noam Murro’s 300: Rise of an Empire are now available. We get a close-up of Sullivan Stapleton (Animal Kingdom) who stars as Themistocles, a Greek general who battles against the invading Persian army.  The sequel to Zack Snyder’s 300 takes place at roughly the same time but will visit a variety of different locations (including the sea) and showcase appropriate tactics as the outnumbered Greeks attempt to defend their homeland.

Also starring Rodrigo Santoro, Eva Green and Lena Headey, 300: Rise of an Empire opens August 2nd.  Hit the jump to check out the pictures and quotes.

The official Facebook page of the comic book sequel 300: Rise of an Empire was updated with a new image showcasing the film’s title in typical Spartan fashion.  The title image shares many similarities with its predecessor, the Gerald Butler blockbuster 300, but fails to offer any new information aside from indicating that they intend to stick to this title (the follow-up was previously called 300: Battle of Artemisia).  300: Rise of an Empire is set to hit theaters August 2^nd 2013 and stars Rodrigo Santoro, Eva Green and Sullivan Stapleton, and is loosely based on the comic ”Xeres” by Frank Miller.  Hit the jump for the full res image and for more information on the spin-off/sequel.

Because it would be silly and confusing to name the sequel to Zack Snyder’s 300, 301 or 300: 2, the follow-up has now been given the official title of 300: Rise of an Empire.  Previously, the Noam Murro sequel/spin-off was titled 300: Battle of Artemisia, but perhaps that was too confusing and so we’re now left with this generic title that continues the theme of recent movies (The Dark Knight Rises, Rise of the Guardians, etc). Deadline reports that the Legendary Pictures film will keep its release date of August 2nd, 2013 intact.  300: Rise of an Empire stars Eva Green, Rodrigo Santoro, Sullivan Stapleton and Andrew Tiernan in a story based off of a Frank Miller comic.  Be sure to catch up with all of our previous coverage on the 300 spin-off here.

Production on the 300 follow-up 300: Battle of Artemisia must be looming closer, as director Noam Murro has cast two leads in the pic. Last week we learned that Sullivan Stapleton had landed a lead in the film, and now Deadline reports that Jamie Blackley is set in another lead role. Blackley will play Calisto, “a teen whose desire to become the heroic man/soldier his father was leads the 16 year old to become a leader of a small band of soldiers.” Since the film centers around the Battle of Artemisia, it was assumed that the two leads would be Themistocles (who lead the Greeks) and Xerxes (who led the Persians). There was some confusion last week as to whether Stapleton would be playing Themistocles or Xerxes.

Given the news of Blackley’s casting, it appears a good portion of the film will center around some of the younger soldiers. Battle of Artemisia isn’t necessarily a sequel or prequel to 300, as the events in the film take place at the same time as the events in 300. Eva Green is also set to star. Blackley had a small role in London Boulevard opposite Colin Farrell and recently wrapped the lead in the Bryan Singer-produced uwantme2killhim?. Blackley will next be seen in Snow White and the Huntsman.

The 300 sequel, 300: Battle of Artemisia has finally cast its first male lead in the form of Sullivan Stapleton (Animal Kingdom). Stapleton will star opposite Eva Green (Casino Royale), who was in recent talks to play Artemisia, the “ruthless, gold-covered goddess who persuades Xerxes to amass his army and helps lead them into battle.” There is currently some confusion as to whether Stapleton will be cast as Xerxes (portrayed in the original 300 by Rodrigo Santoro) or if he will be portraying the lead role of Themistocles, the leader of the Greek forces who oppose the Persian army.

Directed by Noam Murro (Smart People) and written/produced by 300 director Zack Snyder, 300: Battle of Artemisia takes place in a similar time as the original but will have a new setting and cast of characters. Hit the jump for more.

The ratings are in, and Super Bowl XLVI just barely edged out last year’s game to rank as the most watched program in television history. Nearly 111.3 million people tuned in to watch the Giants vs. Patriots match-up and, subsequently, a whole lotta advertising. Last night we brought you a compilation of all the movie-related spots that ran during the game (including an extended version of The Avengers ad, which is fantastic), and today we’d like to bring your attention to the actual commercials. While most of us are looking for the cleverest or most laugh-inducing spot when judging these super-sized budgeted ads, quite a few notable filmmakers were actually behind many of last night’s spots.

After the jump you’ll find a compilation of ads directed by Peter Berg, Todd Phillips, David Gordon Green, Craig Gillespie, Bobby Farrelly, Matthijs van Heijningen Jr., Lance Acord, Joe Pytka, Jake Scott, Fredrik Bond, Chris Smith, Miguel Arteta, Wayne McClammy, and Noam Murro.

Joel Edgerton is entering talks with Warner Bros. to star in the 300 sequel, 300: Battle of Artemisia.  According to Vulture, Edgerton “would play Themosticles, the famed archon and general who led the Greeks to victory against the invading Persians in 480 BCE.”  Noam Murro, who previously directed the awful Smart People, is making a big leap from that indie to the tentpole action flick, but Zack Snyder is still on board to co-write the script based on Frank Miller‘s upcoming graphic-novel, Xerxes.

While I’m not exactly sure we need 300: The Same Amount of Greased-Up Ripped Guys Fighting the Brown People, Edgerton is undoubtedly a strong lead.  Unfortunately, American audiences probably don’t know that yet since no one saw Warrior and he’s barely in The Thing.  However, they’ll get more chances to see him in 2012 since he’s leading Kathryn Bigelow’s Kill Bin Laden, and he’s co-starring in the family flick The Odd Life of Timothy Green and Baz Luhrmann’s adaptation of The Great Gatsby.

There have been a lot of rumors surrounding the sadly inevitable Die Hard 5 over the past few years, from Bruce Willis claiming it would be a worldwide undershirt adventure to talk that it might inexplicably be called Die Hard 24/7. The most recent bit of news to sneak out of the endless Die Hard 5 rumor treadmill was that the new film would weirdly be directed by award-winning commercial helmer Noam Murro of Smart People fame. Franchise fans struggled to imagine what an indie quirk comedy version of Die Hard could possibly be, with guns removed in favor of manic-depressive deadpan comedy. Fortunately we won’t have to worry about that any longer as today it’s been reported that Murro has left the project. However, Willis and the studio are still determined to milk a little more cast out of the Die Hard brand name and plan to search for a new director for the latest franchise entry that will apparently send John McClane to Russia (we’re as confused as you are by that one). Hit the jump for more info on the endlessly delayed five-quel.

Warner Bros. has settled on Noam Murro (Smart People) to direct their 300 prequel 300: Battle of Artemisia (formerly titled Xerxes). Last month we reported that the studio was deciding between Murro and Jaume Collet-Serra (Unknown) to take the helm of the project, and now Heat Vision reports that the studio settled on Murro, deciding to set Collet-Serra to helm Akira. The now-titled 300: Battle of Artemisia (because apparently people need to know that this is going to be like 300) is based on Frank Miller’s graphic novel Xerxes which tells the story of the king’s rise to greatness, with the Battle of Artemisium being a major focal point.

Zach Snyder, who directed 300, wrote the script alongside Kurt Johnstad, though he was too busy with Man of Steel to return for the high priority follow-up. No word on whether Rodrigo Santoro is returning as Xerxes, but I’ll be interested to see who they cast as Themistocles, the leader and master of strategy for the Greeks during the Battle of Artemisium. Murro is also attached to direct Die Hard 5 for Fox.

It’s been awhile since we’ve heard anything regarding Warner Bros.’ 300 spinoff, then titled Xerxes. With 300 director Zack Snyder hard at work on Man of Steel, we learned back in February that Guy Ritchie passed on the pic and since then “mum” has been the word. All of that changes now as we finally have a couple of news bits to report from the project: 1) Warner Bros. has retitled the film 300: Battle of Artemisia and 2) Noam Murro (Smart People) and Jaume Collet-Serra (Unknown) are considered the top candidates to helm the film. Hit the jump for details.

Die Hard 5 officially has a director, and it’s not exactly someone you expected. Noam Murro, best known for helming 2008’s Smart People starring Dennis Quaid and Sarah Jessica Parker, has been tapped by Fox to direct the latest installment of the Die Hard franchise. Skip Woods (X-Men Origins: Wolverine) has been on hand to write the screenplay since last May. However, earlier today we reported that Fox was unimpressed with Woods’ latest draft of the screenplay and is going back to the drawing board, with franchise star Bruce Willis taking an active role in development. Having a director on board should be helpful in crafting a successful script, but might Fox bring another writer in for some fresh perspective?

Though Murro is relatively unknown, THR’s report points out that he’s a highly acclaimed commercials director, having been nominated by the DGA for Director of the Year five times, as well as having won the Gold Lion at the Cannes Gold Lion awards. Hit the jump for more on Murro.