Danny DeVito reportedly met with Disney before the SAG-AFTRA strike began to discuss his potential return in the live-action Hercules movie.
Ever since Disney confirmed the development of the live-action film adaptation of 1997’s animated film Hercules in April 2020, many people online have started fan casting the main characters. Probably the most popular fan casting is DeVito’s return as Hercules’ hero trainer Philoctetes, whom he famously voiced in the original animated movie. According to industry scooper Daniel Richtman, it seems like Disney also agrees with fans in regard to the right actor who should portray Phil in the live-action movie.
Richtman said that DeVito was reportedly already in talks with Disney for the project prior to the actors’ strike, given that the Golden Globe winner recently collaborated with the company in the Haunted Mansion remake. Besides DeVito, it was also recently rumored that Rocketman’s Taron Egerton and Wicked’s Ariana Grande are being considered for the respective leading roles of Hercules and Megara, who were originally voiced by Tate Donovan and Susan Egan. Grande has long been a fan-favorite to portray the confident Meg, thanks to her popular rendition of the Hercules song “I Won’t Say I’m In Love” from The Disney Family Singalong.
What to Expect in Disney’s Live-Action Hercules Movie
The upcoming Hercules movie will be directed by Guy Ritchie, who previously worked with Disney on the live-action adaptation of Aladdin which earned a worldwide gross of over a billion at the box office. The project is being produced by Avengers: Endgame filmmakers Joe and Anthony Russo through their AGBO banner, with Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse scribe David Callaham attached to pen the screenplay.
Further details about the project are still being kept under wraps, but producer Joe Russo previously teased the experimental nature of their live-action Hercules movie. He revealed that the remake is inspired by TikTok musicals. “There are questions about how you translate it as a musical,” Russo said. “Audiences today have been trained by TikTok, right? What is their expectation of what that musical looks like and feels like? That can be a lot of fun and help us push the boundaries a little bit on how you execute a modern musical.”
Based on Greek mythology characters, the original animated film centered around Hercules, the son of Zeus who was turned into a mortal following a foiled assassination plot by Hades. Despite being mortal, he was able to retain his godly strength which he wasn’t able to control, leading him to be alienated by other people. After finding out about his true identity, he enlisted the help of Philoctetes to transform him into a hero in hopes of regaining his godhood. The upcoming remake is a part of Disney’s growing list of animated movies set to be adapted into live-action films.
At the time of writing, Disney hasn’t made any announcement regarding the release date of its long-in-development Hercules movie.
Source: Daniel RPK Patreon via Comic Book Movie