screenshots / 300 / 2006 Legendary Pictures, Warner Bros. Pictures

Based on the 1998 Dark Horse comic book series of the same name by Frank Miller and Lynn Varley, the film is a fictionalized retelling of the historical Battle of Thermopylae during the Greco-Persian Wars.

Starring Gerald Butler (as Leonidas, King of Sparta), Rodrigo Santoro (as King Xerxes, king of Persia) and Michael Fassbender (as Stelios, a young Spartan soldier).

Former professional wrestler Robert Maillet (cast here as Über-Immortal) later also appeared in 2011's Immortals and 2014's Hercules.

The production filmed at the Ice Storm Studios, Montréal, Québec, Canada.

The box office success of the film inspired a 2014 sequel, 300: Rise of an Empire.

A parody titled Meet the Spartans was released in 2008.