According to the Hollywood trades, Gerard Butler, who most recently starred in Phantom of the Opera, has been signed to star in the movie version of Frank Miller's 300, the graphic novel based on the Battle of Thermopylae (see ''Dawn of the Dead' Helmer to Film '300'').  Butler also starred with Angelina Jolie in Lara Croft Tomb Raider:  The Cradle of Life.  The movie starts shooting October 17th in Montreal.