As regular Hotlist readers will know, it takes a truly epic movie to break into Hotlist’s Top 30 searches chart. In fact, the last film to do so was Casino Royale last December. Following on the heels of Daniel Craig’s search success, Zack Snyder’s blockbuster 300 has claimed a place in Hotlist’s top movie searches.The historical epic, starring Lena Headey, Gerard Butler and British screen legend in waiting Dominic West, has also muscled its way into Hotlist’s Top 5 Actors & Film chart. With an average of over 1,700 daily queries, your searches have ensured the film is challenging the likes of screen queens Eva Longoria and Lindsay Lohan for cinematic search supremacy.
How has 300 created such a strong buzz? The movie is an adaptation of a graphic novel written by Frank Miller, the man behind the iconic Dark Horse comic Sin City. And just like the big screen version of Sin City, 300 uses the technique of virtual studio filmmaking where the actors are shot against blue screens leaving the backgrounds and surroundings to be generated through CGI making it one of cinema’s first historical fantasy epics.
In addition to the technology, 300’s underdog story is also particularly tough to resist. King Leonidas, played by Butler, leads his army of 300 Spartans into the 480 BC Battle of Thermopylae against one million soldiers. Their sacrifice inspires all of Greece to unite against their Persian invaders. With its unique mix of historical battles, animation and fantastic CGI-generated creatures, it’s no surprise that 300 has shot to Hotlist glory.
