"300" director Zack Snyder is getting the "Steven Spielberg deal" at Electronic Arts.

As this story in today's Daily Variety explains, Snyder (right) is creating three original videogames that will be made at EA's Los Angeles studio. I'm calling it the "Spielberg deal" since it's the exact same agreement that the legendary director made with EA three years ago. The first result of that pact was the critically reverered "Boom Blox." The second, a sci-fi title about a secret agent and an android, still doesn't have a release date.

EA will retain full ownership of the properties developed with Snyder, but will work with him and his production company Cruel & Unusual Films to potentially adapt some or all of the games as movies.

My understanding is that Snyder still hasn't even come up with his first game with EA (or at least both sides haven't settled on an idea), since the deal literally just closed. But given EA's huge emphasis on creating new IP, and Snyder's appeal to the core young male demo after "300," the deal does make some sense.

On the other hand, there's no real example yet of a Hollywood director whose name has led to huge videogame sales ("Stranglehold" wasn't a monster hit and neither was "Boom Blox"). And, although it's early and nobody really knows anything yet, there certainly is mixed buzz in Hollywood on "Watchmen." It could be great, but it might not. If it's not, I wonder if that will hurt his standing amongst the very "core audience" (aka young men) that EA Games president Frank Gibeau said, in explaining the logic of the deal, that Snyder appeals to.

The only thing we know now for sure is that there's still lots of gas left in the Hollywood-videogames expressway and that EA is ready to spend money to get new IP (I don't have any financial details, but it's safe to assume Snyder gets some participation in the games' success, meaning less profit for EA than if they came up with the property in-house).