‘Hercules’ Live-Action Remake in the Works With Russo Brothers Producing
By Dave McNary
LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Disney is in early development of a live-action remake of its 1997 animated movie “Hercules,” with “Avengers” filmmakers Joe and Anthony Russo producing through their AGBO production company.
Disney has hired action specialist Dave Callaham to write the “Hercules” script. Callaham teamed with Sylvester Stallone for the original screenplay for “The Expendables,” creating his character for the franchise. He has credits on “Godzilla” and “Zombieland: Double Tap,” as well as the upcoming “Wonder Woman 1984” and Disney-Marvel’s “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.”
The 1997 movie was a musical-fantasy retelling of the Hercules legend directed by Ron Clements and John Musker. Hercules was voiced by Tate Donovan, snatched as a baby by Hades and forced to live among mortals as a half-man, half-god. Hercules needed to perform a rite of passage on Earth to prove himself worthy of living with the gods on Mount Olympus, so with the help of his satyr mentor, voiced by Danny DeVito, he learns how to use his strength to defeat a series of evil creatures.
“Hercules” carried an $85 million budget and generated $252 million at the worldwide box office. That performance lagged behind predecessors such as 1991’s “Beauty and the Beast,” 1992’s “Aladdin” and 1994’s “The Lion King” — all of which would become lucrative live-action remakes for Disney.
The Russo brothers directed “Captain America: The Winter Soldier,” “Captain America: Civil War,” “Avengers: Infinity War” and “Avengers: Endgame.” “Endgame” is the highest-grossing film of all time with $2.79 billion in global ticket sales. They also won an Emmy Award for “Arrested Development” and worked on “Community,” “Happy Endings” and “Deadly Class.”
The Russos opened the AGBO facilities in Los Angeles last year and produced the Chris Hemsworth action film “Extraction,” which debuted on Netflix last week. News about the “Hercules” remake was first reported by the Disinsider.
