Zack Snyder claims Warner Bros turned down his gay ‘love story’ sequel to 300
Zack Snyder claims Warner Bros said “no” to his ‘300’ sequel featured a gay “love story” between Alexander the Great and his close friend, Hephaestion.(Photo by Albert L. Ortega/Getty Images/Warner Bros)
Director Zack Snyder claimed Warner Bros passed on his 300 sequel that turned into a gay “love story” about the relationship between Alexander the Great and his childhood companion.
Snyder – who directed and co-wrote the 2006 film and co-wrote its sequel 300: Rise of an Empire – said in an interview with The Playlist’s The Fourth Wall podcast that Warner Bros wanted him to write a third instalment for the franchise. He said the movie was set to be the “final chapter in 300“, and he started writing it during the pandemic.
But Snyder said he “couldn’t really get my teeth” into the planned sequel to a bloody, historical action franchise. Instead, he said he ended up writing something completely different – a “beautiful love story” between Alexander the Great and his general, Hephaestion.
“When I sat down to write it, I actually wrote a different movie,” Snyder said. “I was writing this thing about Alexander the Great, and it just turned into a movie about the relationship between Hephaestion and Alexander.”
He continued: “It turned out to be a love story. So it didn’t really fit as the third movie.”
Synder said he even titled the movie “Blood and Ashes”, promising the movie featured both romance and warfare. But he said Warner Bros “said no” to the gay 300 film, explaining “they’re not huge fans of mine”.
It is believed the Macedonian king may have had an intimate relationship with his companion and close friend, Hephaestion. There is no real historical evidence that the two were lovers, but there are many assumptions as it’s believed Alexander the Great had sexual relationships with both men and women.
It is unsurprising that Snyder believes Warner Bros is not a ‘fan’ of his given that he previously said he feared Warner Bros would sue him if he supported the movement to release his cut of the Justice League movie. He told The Sunday Times that he was “worried the studio would sue” or “do something to silence” him if he publicly supported the #ReleaseTheSnyderCut movement.
The movie studio eventually relented and released the new cut in six individual chapters from 18 March.
PinkNews has contacted Warner Bros for comment.
