Is Ariana Grande a psychic? Was her Disney Family Singalong performance a PR stunt to make us all care about Hercules again? Either way, we’re getting a live-action version of Hercules from Disney, and it’s being produced by the Russo brothers.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the live-action remake of the 1997 classic Disney film will be written by Dave Callaham, who also wrote the upcoming Marvel flick Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.
Between Callaham and the Russo bros, there’s clearly a lot of superhero magic coming to the new film, so fans are hoping for lots of action. No release date or casting details have been announced, nor is it clear if the film will be a musical or not (it better be, or we will riot!).
Hercules will join the ranks of many other Disney classics that have gotten the live-action treatment over the past decade, including Alice in Wonderland, Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, Dumbo, Aladdin, and The Lion King. But fan reaction to the live-action remakes has been completely mixed. Beauty and the Beast earned more than $1.2 billion in worldwide box office sales according to Box Office Mojo, while Dumbo only made it to $353 million. The Lion King earned more than $1.6 billion, but had a critical rating of 54% on Rotten Tomatoes.
The latest highly anticipated, Disney live-action remake set to hit theaters on July 24 is Mulan, which had an original date of March 27 but was held due to stay-at-home orders related to COVID-19.
Time will tell where Herc will fall among the remakes that came before it.
