He played a modern MMA fighter in this year’s Warrior and now we have news that producers of the 300 prequel 300: Battle Of Artemisia are after Joel Edgerton for the role of Spartan warrior Themosticles (insert immature joke here).

Edgerton is moving quickly up the Hollywood ranks since his breakthrough role in Animal Kingdom – while The Thing stumbled out of the gate, he’ll be seen in The Great Gatsby and Disney’s The Odd Life of Timothy Green. The 300 prequel is set a decade before the events depicted in the first film, and will evidently span a ten year period, beginning with the battle of Marathon. With Immortals and Wrath of the Titans coming soon, there appears to be no lack of CGI-enhanced sword-and-sandal nonsense to numb the senses.

While I do like to watch gladiator movies from time to time, I found Zack Snyder‘s 300 to be a batch of over-hyped, underwhelming drivel. I’m not interested in any continuation of the series, but I know plenty of action fans will be. That may be the reason for producer Bernie Goldman teased the possible appearance of Gerard Butler and Lena Headley, the stars of the original. If Edgerton takes the role, it would likely be a fairly astute career move,  although he would seem to be following fellow Australian Sam Worthington‘s lead: diving in the tent-pole scum swamp and never looking back.

Still, Tony Gilroy looked at Edgerton for The Bourne Legacy and he’ll be involved with Kathryn Bigelow‘s Kill Bin Laden, both of which are fairly high-prestige A-list projects. We’ll see. 300: Battle of Artemisia does not have a start date, but it will be directed by Noam Murro, for a tentative release in 2013.

Are you a fan of 300? Have been breathlessly awaiting a new installment? Do you frequently dress in loin-clothes and scream “Spartans!!”? If so, there’s probably a group therapy session with your name on it.

[Source: The Playlist]

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