From one "Animal Kingdom" star to another. Late last year, Aussie actor-of-the-moment Joel Edgerton ("Warrior") was rumored to be in line for several Warner Bros. projects including "The Man From U.N.C.L.E," and the untitled "300" prequel (sometimes known as "300: Battle Of Artemisia"). Well, Edgerton never really landed in either gig, but one of his Aussie "Animal Kingdom" pals, Sullivan Stapleton has.
The actor, who really hasn't reaped the casting benefits of 'Kingdom' like his co-stars Edgerton, Jacki Weaver, and Ben Mendelsohn have, is evidently in final negotiations to star in the picture. A bold move from Warner Bros. considering Stapleton is far less of a "star" then Edgerton is (and that's relative of course), but neither was anyone else in the original "300" cast and that was obviously a huge hit.
Directed by Noam Murro (the indie film "Smart People," talk about a leap), the prequel produced by orignal "300" director Zack Snyder, Mark Canton ("Immortals," "300"), Gianni Nunnari, Bernie Goldman, Deborah Snyder and Thomas Tull, will also star French actress Eva Green. This is definitely a good look for Stapelton and obviously quite the first big gig of his career outside of his CineMax show "Strike Back."
Kurt Johnstad and Zack Snyder penned the screenplay, but the details are under wraps for now. No word when the film will shoot, but presumably later this year as this is one project that WB and its producers have hoped to get off the ground for some time now. Stapleton will next be seen in WB's "Gangster Squad" alongside Sean Penn, Ryan Reynolds and many more. [Variety]
