As audiences have seen in previous live-action adaptations, Disney ordinarily desires to stick closely to the first story, whilst promoting the opportunity for filmmakers to add depth, backstory and extend the plot to create a true blockbuster. In Beauty and the Beast, for instance, new songs were added and a backstory was built to clarify the absence of Belle’s mother; in Dumbo considerably more artistic license was used, adding many characters and additional plot points to an otherwise shallow story. Alluding back to the Russo brothers’ comments on the progress of the film, it appears they are quick to expand and extend upon the Hercules story that everybody grew up cherishing. While there may not be Disney songs for these characters, it seems likely that some changes will be made.
Disney’s Live-Action Hercules is slowly pushing forward in pre-production with the Russo Brothers in charge, affirming last year that”it’s still in development,” during an interview on Lights Camera Barstool. The Russo Brothers are most famously directors of Marvel’s Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. With these two worldwide successful and gigantically epic films under their belts, it is safe to say that the Russos perhaps just be the men to bring Hercules successfully out of animation and into live-action.
The animated Hercules was released more than two decades prior in 1997 and Disney’s focus has shifted onto this well known film. The film followed Hercules from child to saint, speeding through the mythical trials and focusing on the classic Disney lowlife Hades’ goals of overthrowing Mount Olympus. The Russos suggested in the same interview last year that they have affectionate memories of the classic film, with their youngsters having grown up watching it, and that they are quick to “assemble a world out of [Hercules] and extend it into something convincing”. It appears that the Brothers will respect the source material whilst offering audiences something new.
With most of Disney’s previous live-action installations, the remakes have often followed the overall plot spread out by the first Disney films, therefore it is intelligent to expect the Russos to give Hercules the same treatment. In any case, to engage another crowd whilst securing returning fans, Hercules might add additional sequences that showcase CGI technology turning out to be more impressive, as well as Hercules’ might. The character is based upon the Greek “Twelve Trails of Hercules” legend and this myth forms the basis of Phil’s training in the animated film. A similar structure might serve the live-action reboot well.
