Swords and sandals come back into fashion as rival studios, banking on the success -- and inexpensive greenscreen techniques -- of 300, begin casting tales of ancient Greece. Relativity Media is negotiating with Henry Cavill to star as Theseus in War of the Gods a mythic story in which kings and warriors fight alongside gods. Meanwhile, Sam Worthington is being considered to play the role of Perseus in the Warner Bros. remake of the 1981 Clash of the Titans.

And they are not the only ones in on the game. UK-based Intandem Films is getting ready to produce supernatural action thriller Mortis Rex, which pits a disgraced Roman war hero against a supernatural beast causing horrendous deaths. The film will be helmed by Peter Briggs, a first-time director who was one of the writers for Guillermo del Toro's Hellboy.

There was a time in the not-too-distant past when Mickey Rourke couldn't get a leading role in a movie to save his life. Now, the Academy Award-nominated actor has one project after another lined up. Rourke will walk the red carpet tonight at the premiere of director Jon Favreau's Iron Man 2, in which he plays the main antagonist, and then he's heading back to the set of Immortals (formerly War of the Gods), which is currently filming in Montreal. He also has a half-dozen other movies in various stages of pre- and post-production and recently revealed to the Orlando Sentinel that he has taken the lead role in writer-director John Milius' Genghis Khan.

Another greek mythology epic à la Clash of the Titans is on its way from Indian director Tarsem Singh (The Cell, The Fall). Originally called War of the Gods and now changed to Immortals, the movie stars Henry Cavill as Theseus and Mickey Rourke as villain King Hyperion — both included in new "first look" photos.

Way back in May 2010 we got our first looks at Henry Cavill, Mickey Rourke and Freida Pinto as Theseus, King Hyperion and Phaedra, respectively, in Indian director Tarsem Singh's (The Cell, The Fall) new swords-and-sandals fantasy epic, Immortals (formerly War of the Gods). Now, we have our first look at Twilight heartthrob Kellan Lutz as the Greek god of the sea, Poseidon.

Relativity Media kicked off its WonderCon promotional push for Indian director Tarsem Singh's (The Cell) new swords-and-sandals fantasy epic, Immortals, by hosting a cloak-and-dagger unveiling of five new character posters for the movie in a darkened room that was accessible to members of the press only. The posters included highly stylized images of Henry Cavill as Theseus, Isabel Lucas as Athena, Luke Evans as Zeus, Daniel Sharman as Ares and Kellan Lutz as Poseidon. After the unveiling, Singh, Cavill, Lucas and Evans were trotted out for a brief photo op in front of the posters, but they were not allowed to discuss the movie, reserving questions for the panel presentation, which will be held later today.

One of the upcoming movies that got a big promotional push at the WonderCon comic book and popular arts convention that took place earlier this month in San Francisco was director Tarsem Singh's (The Cell) new swords-and-sandals fantasy epic, Immortals. Relativity Media and Universal Pictures first teased the movie by hosting a poster unveiling that included a photo op with Singh, Henry Cavill (Theseus), Isabel Lucas (Athena), and Luke Evans (Zeus). Then, later in the day, a panel presentation for the movie was held, at which Singh and the aforementioned stars took part in a Q&A that culminated with the first footage from the movie being shown to those in attendance. Now, another big push is being made for the movie with the release of a new still image featuring Cavill in action, the first theatrical trailer, and a new video journal from the set of the movie.

Universal has unveiled a new theatrical poster for director Jon Favreau's (Iron Man, Iron Man 2) upcoming genre-mashed movie, Cowboys and Aliens. The poster effectively combines heroic poses and a simple tagline (with a little help from blue-orange contrast and a few anamorphic lens flares thrown in for good measure) to perfectly illustrate what the movie is about: a battle for survival between hardened denizens of the Old West — played by the likes of James Bond (Daniel Craig), Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford), and Tron: Legacy's Quorra (Olivia Wilde) — and a race of invading aliens.

A new theatrical trailer for director Tarsem Singh's (The Cell) upcoming swords-and-sandals fantasy epic, Immortals, has been released that includes enough stylized costumes and mythic action to earn the "From the Producers of 300" tag line that is frequently used to promote the movie. Written by Charley and Vlas Parlapanides, Immortals stars future Superman Henry Cavill as Theseus, a simple stonemason who seeks revenge against the bloodthirsty King Hyperion (Mickey Rourke) and his Heraklion army for the death of his mother, a victim of one of the king's many raids to find the invincible Bow of Epirus.

Henry Cavill, the latest actor to play Superman, was on hand at the 2011 Comic-Con to answer questions about the upcoming fantasy epic Immortals, but couldn't escape without answering a question or two about the Superman reboot, Man of Steel.

During the Immortals panel, Cavill was asked about the recent release date change for Man of Steel — initially, the movie was set to open in December 2012, but no exact date had been scheduled, and, in order to avoid competition from the first Hobbit prequel, An Unexpected Journey, Warner Bros. moved Man of Steel to June 14, 2013. Cavill, according to EW, stayed politic, and simply complimented the movie.

There’s nothing I can say, other than it’s one of the best scripts I’ve ever read. I can’t wait to get started.

So, you saw the publicity still of Henry Cavill in costume as Superman that Warner Bros. distributed to promote Zack Snyder's Man of Steel and now you're itching for more? Well, don't expect to see any footage of that anytime soon. Sure, some "spy" footage from the Illinois set has leaked out, but other than Cavill walking around and smiling that's about all that it has yielded. Still, you can get an idea of what Cavill will look like as an action hero by checking out the latest trailer for his new movie, Immortals, a swords-and-sandals fantasy epic from director Tarsem Singh (The Cell). In the movie, written by Charley and Vlas Parlapanides, Cavill stars as Theseus, a mortal who is chosen by the Greek gods to stop the bloodthirsty King Hyperion (Mickey Rourke) and his Heraklion army from finding the invincible Bow of Epirus and laying waste to the worlds of both the mortals and the immortals.

The first TV spot for director Tarsem Singh's (The Cell) new movie, Immortals, has been made available for viewing online and it contains over a minute of epic stylized action in the vein of 300. Written by Charley and Vlas Parlapanides, the movie combines elements of the Greek myth of the Titanomachy, the war between the Olympian gods and the Elder Gods, the Titans, with the legends of Theseus, the mythical founder-king of Athens.

The plot of the movie revolves around the return of the Titan King Hyperion (Mickey Rourke) years after the Titanomachy. With an army of killers behind him, Hyperion begins to lay waste to Greece in an effort to find the legendary Bow of Epirus, a powerful weapon that the mad king plans to use to free his fellow Titans from imprisonment and seek vengeance against Zeus (Luke Evans) and the rest of the Olympians. Unable to interfere in Hyperion's war against humanity, the fate of the Olympians and all of the world falls on the shoulders of the gods' champion, Theseus (Henry Cavill), a simple stonemason whose mother was killed during one of Hyperion's raids.

Fans of hunky British actor Henry Cavill have two, yes, two opportunities to see the up-and-coming actor in all of his shirtless glory today. Relativity Media and Universal Pictures have released two new still images from Cavill's latest movie, director Tarsem Singh's (The Cell) swords-and-sandals epic, Immortals, showing him as a svelte, bronze-age warrior. And, coincidentally, three new "spy" pics have leaked out from the Alaskan set of Zack Snyder's Superman reboot, Man of Steel, showing Cavill as a bulkier, bearded Clark Kent.

With director Tarsem Singh's (The Cell) new movie, Immortals, opening in theaters in less than three weeks, Relativity Media and Universal Pictures have ramped up the promotional campaign for the swords-and-sandals epic. In the past week, the studios have released a large selection of high-quality still images that show off the movie's lush, extravagant costumes and set pieces; a new character featurette focused on the hero of the movie, Theseus (Henry Cavill), who was chosen by the Olympian god Zeus (Luke Evans) to defend humanity from the threat of the mad Titan King Hyperion (Mickey Rourke); and a preview clip from the movie that proves Rourke can deliver a performance that is both menacing and powerful without having to rely on much more than his voice.

Initially, most of the buzz — and the marketing campaign — surrounding Immortals had to do with the involvement of Mark Canton and Gianni Nunnari, who brought their experience as the producers of 300 to director Tarsem Singh's (The Cell) swords-and-sandals epic, and with the casting of then-hot Mickey Rourke — coming off of his career-rebounding performance in The Wrestler and his high-profile villain role in Iron Man 2 — as the antagonist, the blood-thirsty Titan, King Hyperion. However, after British actor Henry Cavill landed the role of Superman/Clark Kent in director Zack Snyder's Man of Steel, much of the attention shifted over to him and pretty much stayed there.

While Cavill's rising super-star status has undoubtedly been good for Immortals, the unfortunate thing about it is the fact that many of the other excellent members of the cast have pretty much been overlooked. It appears that Relativity Media and Universal Pictures have finally noticed their Cavill marketing bias because they just released two new featurettes that shine the spotlight on Isabel Lucas (Daybreakers) and Freida Pinto (Slumdog Millionaire), and the roles their characters play in the movie.

How do you prepare yourself to portray a "strange visitor from another planet" with the powers of a god? Well, if you're British actor Henry Cavill — who is currently shooting Zack Snyder's Man of Steel, in which he plays the first and greatest superhero, Superman — you first train for months on end to play a steely-sinewed mythic mortal who fights for the gods. Then you read a lot of comic books.

In a recent interview, Cavill discussed why he worked out so long and hard to play Theseus in director Tarsem Singh's Immortals, and why he didn't study Christopher Reeve's portrayal of Superman when prepping for Man of Steel.

When director Tarsem Singh's new swords-and-sandals epic, Immortals, opens in theaters this Friday, we'll finally have the chance to see if his description of the movie as "Caravaggio meets Fight Club" is accurate or simply hyperbole. From the looks of the still images and the footage we've seen in the trailers and preview clips, Singh definitely went to great lengths to live up to the Caravaggio reference with his dramatic lighting and highly stylized costumes and set dressings. As for Fight Club, anyone who has seen the shirtless shots of a ripped-up Henry Cavill as Theseus will likely agree that he would fit right in alongside Brad Pitt's Tyler Durden in any basement bareknuckle fight.

Cavill recently explained how he got Fight Club-fit for Immortals by putting in six months of training while waiting for the movie to go into production, training that "helped an enormous amount" when it came time to do the fight choreography and stunts. But, simply looking the part is not always enough to help an actor get into character. In a recent interview with Collider, Cavill revealed that the "fantastic and elaborate" sets Singh had built for the movie helped him to believe that he was a warrior chosen by the gods to save the world.

Sure the visuals are stunning in Tarsem Singh's Immortals but is it enough to keep audiences happy? The critics are divided:

See more Immortals reviews.

"If by my life or death I can protect you, I will. You have my sword."

Fans of high fantasy — fantasy that takes place on an epic scale in an imaginary world in which otherwise supernatural creatures and forces are simply a part of the natural environment — were all but left out in the cold in 2012, while superheroes, aliens and secret agents were free to run amok on the big screen. Where were all of the wizards, dragons and elves? Except for animated movies and the pair of Snow White adaptations, high fantasy movies have been noticeably absent from the Cineplex of late.

Thankfully, fans of the fantasy sub-genre will not have to wait much longer with The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey opening in only a matter of days and Russian director Sergei Bodrov's (Mongol: The Rise of Genghis Khan) new fantasy adventure, Seventh Son — that's a begrizzled Jeff Bridges in the hood and cloak above, playing an aging knight who must train a new apprentice (Ben Barnes) to help him battle a malevolent witch (Julianne Moore) that seeks to destroy him — debuting next year. In anticipation of the return of magic to movie theaters, help us rate the best high fantasy movies of all time (beyond time).

Rate the Top 10 Best High Fantasy Movies >>

Image courtesy Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures