If you want an indication of the state of the relationship between Warner Bros. and director Zack Snyder consider this: Warners recently had the opportunity to make another 300 with Snyder — and they said no thanks.

The original 300, you will recall, made almost half a billion dollars and made a directing star out of Snyder. A sequel — 300: Rise of an Empire — that Snyder wrote and produced but did not direct made less money, but given the enduring popularity of the original film and Snyder’s enormous cult, a new installment in the franchise from him seems like a guaranteed money maker. And Warner Bros. didn’t want it.

That’s what Snyder told The Playlist podcast recently, explaining that he had a deal with Warner Bros. to write “the final chapter in 300” during the pandemic. What he made evolved into something different than he (and apparently Warners) planned:

When I sat down to write it I actually wrote a different movie. I was writing this thing about Alexander the Great, and it just turned into a movie about the relationship between Hephaestion and Alexander. It turned out to be a love story. So it really didn’t fit in as the third movie.

Snyder said the project, titled Blood and Ashes, is a “really great” concept and a “beautiful love story, really, with warfare” and that he “would love to do it.” Warner Bros. is another story, though. “They’re not huge fans of mine,” Snyder noted.

Instead of Snyder’s return to 300, you’ll have to settle for Snyder’s return to the zombie genre. His latest effort, Army of the Dead, will be available on Netflix on May 21.

Gallery — The Biggest Changes in Zack Snyder’s Justice League:

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