Guy Ritchie’s Live-Action Hercules Movies Gets New Update From Russo Brothers

Avengers: Endgame directors Joe and Anthony Russo give a promising update regarding Guy Ritchie’s live-action Hercules. The film was first announced in the summer of 2022, though details have since been sparse, with Joe Russo sharing in late 2022 that development had already started and teased that it would be experimental and somehow inspired by TikTok. Also in 2022, Ritchie said that he hoped to get the movie completed within the year, though this came months before the SAG-AFTRA and Writers Guild of America strikes. Two years later, the film is yet to be made, and some rumors indicated Ritchie had abandoned it.

Speaking with Total Film, the Russo brothers gave an update on the upcoming live-action Hercules remake. The filmmakers, who are set to produce the film, said that they are still “waiting on a script.” The Russo brothers didn’t touch on the rumor that Ritchie has left the film, but the update confirms that the remake is still happening.

Will Ritchie’s Hercules Turn Disney’s Live-Action Remake Run Around?

Disney’s recent track record for live-action remakes has been underwhelming. Recent remakes of iconic animated films like Mulan, Pinocchio, and The Little Mermaid, for the most part, underperformed at the box office and received mediocre reviews. Disney’s latest remake, 2023’s The Little Mermaid, barely broke even and earned a 67% rating from critics and a 94% rating from audiences on review-aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes. While the numbers aren’t that underwhelming, especially the audience’s reaction, the numbers don’t properly represent the numbers one usually associates Disney with. Check out how recent live-action Disney remakes have fared on Rotten Tomatoes below:

Despite some of these recent struggles, Ritchie’s live-action remake of Hercules has the potential to turn that around. The director already has experience translating a beloved animated movie into a live-action remake with 2019’s Aladdin. While the film wasn’t a hit with critics, landing a 57% approval rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, it received a 94% from audiences and grossed $1 billion worldwide. Besides the box office gross, those numbers are reminiscent of 2023’s The Little Mermaid in that while critics didn’t seem to like it, audiences did.

It should be noted that Aladdin came out pre-COVID-19, and netting a $1 billion gross is harder to achieve in this current climate, but it isn’t impossible. Last summer’s box office hit Barbie was able to make it possible, and Oppenheimer, which came out the same weekend, almost made $1 billion worldwide as well. With the hype surrounding Hercules, and the fanbase for the original animated film behind it, hitting $1 billion isn’t impossible, and could at least be enough to turn around Disney’s recent rut with live-action remakes.

The original Hercules is available to stream on Disney+.

Source: Total Film