WB makes Unusual deal - '300' filmmaker inks a first-look pa

WB makes Unusual deal - '300' filmmaker inks a first-look pact

Variety.com


January 29, 2007


by PAMELA MCCLINTOCK



Filmmaker Zack Snyder's newly formed shingle Cruel & Unusual Films has inked a two-year first-look deal with Warner Bros. Pictures.

Snyder and his wife, Deborah, are co-prexies of the company. Wesley Coller has boarded Cruel & Unusual as a producer.

Warner Bros. pact comes as the studio readies Snyder's highly stylized "300" for release. Feature, based on Frank Miller's graphic novel of the same name, retells the violent and ancient battle of Thermopylae.

Pic, which hits theaters March 9, stars Gerard Butler, Lena Headey, Dominic West, David Wenham and Rodrigo Santoro.

"Zack is an incredible storyteller -- he's got vision and a style all his own," said Warner Bros. production prexy Jeff Robinov.

Snyder, who made his feature directorial debut with horror remake "Dawn of the Dead," is in pre-production on "Watchmen," based on Alan Moore's DC Comics comicbook, for Warners.

Before turning to features, Snyder shot commercials and musicvideos.

Deborah Snyder, who exec produced "300," was most recently a VP and exec producer for ad house BBDO NY.




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