Watch 300: Rise of an Empire full lush

We’ve already met  Themistokles, so now it’s time to meet Artemisia. The first image of Eva Green’s character in the upcoming “300″ sequel has debuted, and Artemisia looks like a total badass.

The character is the second-in-command in Xerxes’ army who wants to settle a blood score against the Greeks who killed her family when she was just a child. The first look at Green comes courtesy of (uploaded by, and the magazine says Themistokles is Artemisia’s sworn enemy.

“She’s kind of a Lady Macbeth/Cleopatra character. She’s obsessed by vengeance and wants to go to war with the Greeks,” Green told EW. But when Artemisia meets Themistokles mid-battle, things change. “He’s my archenemy, but there’s a very strong attraction,” she said. “If they’d been in another kind of situation, it might have been a romantic story.”

Watch 300: Rise of an Empire full lush

In the recent 

about “Rise of an Empire,” leading man Sullivan Stapleton said of Artemisia, “She does most of Xerxes’ dirty work in this film. She’s seeking revenge, and she does it well. She’s a force to be reckoned with.”

Director Noam Murro added of the character, “She’s got sex appeal, she’s ruthless and conniving. All the things that kill men. And she has a sword. I wouldn’t mess with her.”

Rodrigo Santoro will reprise his role as Xerxes in “Rise of an Empire,” while Green will play Artemisia, Stapleton will play Themistokles and Jamie Blackley will play Calisto. Though Gerard Butler won’t be back as King Leonidas in this flick, Zack Snyder and Kurt Johnstad wrote the script so it will tie in to “300.” This new movie acts as a prequel of sorts to “300.” While part of the flick takes place before the previous film, other parts run concurrently to it.

Watch 300: Rise of an Empire full lush

We may be in the business of loving the hell out of games, but we also have another secret love: movies. The fantastic bunch of people over at Times Media Films obviously know all about our secondary obsession, because they’ve basically gone and handed us control two entire cinemas for a night – one in Cape Town, one in Johannesburg. And we’d like to invite you to join us in commandeering them for a bit o’ movie watching fun.

More details after the break.

So, as the heading plainly states, the movie we’ll be watching is 300: Rise of an Empire. The film’s due out on March 7th, but we’ll get to see it a day early on the 6th of March. The Nu Metro cinemas to which we’ve been handed the keys are located at Watch 300: Rise of an Empire full lush

Montecasino in Jo’burg, and Canal Walk in Cape Town. The show will start at 8pm, and each person will receive a pair of 3D glasses, a Coke and some popcorn. We’ve got 40 double tickets to give away so you can enjoy the film with a friend / your significant other / your cat / some random human you

Watch 300: Rise of an Empire full lush

f all those words I’ve written above (coupled with that fancy poster) excite you, then here’s what you’ve got to do to enter: SMS the word “MONTE” to 33110 if you’re in Jo’burg, or the number “300″ to 33110 if you’re in Cape Town. SMSes are charged at R1,50, and obviously free SMSes don’t apply.

This competition closes at midnight on the 3rd of March. Winners will be randomly selected and notified by SMS on the 4th of Watch 300: Rise of an Empire full lush

March, apparently by 8pm at the latest.

Now, I’ve been asked to drop a quick plot synopsis of the film here, just in case you’re not already hooked. Also, a copyright line at the bottom of the post is apparently necessary (for some reason), so that’ll happen too. Also