During the mid-1990s, the Greek demi-god Hercules was having a moment. The Sam Raimi-produced television series “Hercules: The Legendary Journeys” was quite popular at the time and Disney released their own animation feature film, “Hercules” which, similar to previous outings like “Beauty & The Beast” and “Aladdin,” mixed adventure with musical elements.
Now, in the spirit of remaking animated classics as live-action films and making extra bank, Disney has finally selected a director to helm yet another one of their animation-based live-action projects, this time focusing on a new film version of “Hercules.” This version comes from The Russo Brothers, produced via AGBO. Deadline reports they’ve enlisted British director Guy Ritchie for the pic after handling the billion-dollar hit “Aladdin” for Disney back in 2019.
If you’re unfamiliar with Disney’s “Hercules” film here is the official synopsis:
Disney tackles Greek mythology in this animated feature. Hercules, a son of gods, was snatched as a baby by Hades and forced to live among mortals as a half-man, half-god. Now a teenager, Hercules needs to perform a rite of passage on Earth to prove himself worthy of living with the gods on Mount Olympus. With his plucky satyr sidekick, Philoctetes, along for the ride, Hercules must learn how to use his strength to defeat a series of evil creatures.
Ritchie had been previously attached to direct “Aladdin 2” but there really hasn’t been much movement there in the last couple of years. Since the success of “Aladdin,” Ritchie has been busy chipping away on multiple action projects such as “The Gentlemen,” “Wrath of Man,” the upcoming Jason Statham-led spy flick “Operation Fortune,” a military film starring Jake Gyllenhaal, and had been developing a WWII movie about the first group of British commandos.
Casting or potential hopefuls haven’t been mentioned given how early things are. However, the studio won’t be jumping into production on “Hercules” anytime soon as they only have a first draft from “Shang-Chi & The Legend of The Ten Rings” screenwriter Dave Callaham, but are now seeking new writers to help finish the script which could take some time.