Poster for "300: Rise of an Empire"

Zack Snyder's a busy guy these days what with "Man of Steel" due in theaters in two months and all. He's also producing the sequel to his hit "300" - "300: Rise of an Empire". That film is due in August and we now have the first serious poster for it depicting a gravely serious Spartan soldier casting his gaze over the bow of his ship as a sea battle seems to rage in the background.

If there's an element of this whole production I don't quite get (or should I say I'm not quite buying) its the "300" connection. "Rise of an Empire" has nothing to do with Leonidis and the brave 300 of the original film. It follows parallel events on land and sea that have little to do with the 300 Spartans of legend and more to do with Xerxes. Why not just call it "Xerxes: Rise of an Empire" and be honest about it?

Whatever. As you can see on the poster the film opens August 2nd.