<i>300</i> producer Brash-ly entering game industry

When 300 overran movie theaters earlier this month, many critics compared it to a video game. Perhaps not so coincidentally, one of the producers of the $162 million-grossing action film is looking to get into the video game business.

The Atlanta Business Chronicle is reporting Legendary Pictures CEO Thomas Tull is in the final stages of raising $150 million for a new independent developer-publisher called Brash Entertainment LLC. Tull is cofounding the company with Internet millionaire Bert Ellis, who already owns a record label called Brash Music.

According to the article, Brash Entertainment will specialize in games "that will be licensed with major movie, book, and music titles." The company reportedly has six projects in the works, including a 300 game for PCs. (A PlayStation Portable title based on the movie was released earlier this year.) Speaking with the paper, Ellis promised the publisher's game roster will "all be brands you'll know."

For his part, Tull already has some ties with one of the biggest brands in the game industry. During the 2006 Electronic Entertainment Expo, the New York Times reported that Legendary Pictures is developing a film adaptation of World of Warcraft. Also, former Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment senior vice president Jason Hall's new film production company is located next door to 300 director Zack Snyder's office on the Warner Bros. lot.