A big Bulgarian team took part in the shooting of the new movie 300: Rise of an Empire which is now shown in the local cinemas. A substantial part of the Hollywood production was made in the New Boyana Film Studios and part of the movie consists of computer effects. Bulgarians participated as mute actors, assistant-directors, stunt men, make-up men, visual effects experts and technicians in this movie. There are even Bulgarian horses in the movie.

The epic movie 300: Rise of an Empire topped the box-office in North America last weekend with revenues worth USD 45 million. In Bulgaria, where its premiere was held in the end of last week, the movie 300: Rise of an Empire also attracts a huge audience. The movie was released eight years after the world furore of the original film by Zack Snyder. Kurt Johnstad and Zack Snyder are the script-writers of the new movie and Noam Murro is its director. Irresistible Eva Green, who plays Artemisia- an evil and skilled warrior, arrived in Bulgaria for the shooting of this movie. The actress had to practice sword fight and bow shooting four hours a day during her stay in Bulgaria. The continuation of the epic battle between the Spartans led by King Leonidas and the huge Persian army is filled with tension and dangerous stunts. One of the most spectacular moments regards frames with galloping horses Singapore and Lipitsa reared by Bulgarian stunt man Krasimir Simeonov. His horses already participated in Spartacus, Conan the Barbarian and Caesar and Pompey movies which were also shot in Bulgaria. Singapore is a red 23 year-old full-bred English horse and the other star is the white 16 year-old Lipitsa. The horses are bred in the Khan Asparuh horse club in Sofia. Krasimir Simeonov says that horse stunts are quite risky. For the purpose, he trained his animals quite well. “They go through fire and water”, says the Bulgarian stunt man proudly, adding that working with horses is much easier than working with people at the shooting ground.

Editor: Veneta Nikolova

English version: Kostadin Atanasov