EA Signs 300 Director To Development Deal

Electronic Arts has signed Zack Snyder to a three-game development deal, leading gamers around the world to wonder, “Zack who?”

Snyder, a movie director best known for his adaptation of Frank Miller’s 300, will work with EA in a deal very similar to that given to Steven Spielberg in 2005, according to a report in Variety. The games will be developed by EA Los Angeles, with EA owning the intellectual properties while Snyder retains the rights to convert them into movies in the future.

“I think videogames are cool because they offer an opportunity to tell a story in an entirely unique way,” Snyder said. “Being a long time fan of the games EA creates, I look forward to collaborating with them.”

“Zack Snyder has a fresh and bold creative style that resonates with our core audience,” added EA Games President Frank Gibeau. “Zack is the perfect partner for joining us in creating powerful new interactive fiction.”

Snyder’s “fresh and bold creative style” is presumably visible in his previous work as a movie director, which includes the 2004 remake of the classic zombie film Dawn of the Dead, the adaptation of Frank Miller’s brilliant tale of the Battle of Thermopylae in 300 and his current project, Watchmen, a film version of the classic Alan Moore comic series. At EA, apparently, “freshness and boldness” means being able to translate someone else’s creative work to a different medium.

Financial terms of the deal have not been disclosed, nor have any details about the titles being developed as a result of this deal, or of Snyder’s qualifications to develop games in the first place, beyond thinking they’re “cool.”