MGM has closed a deal with Dwayne Johnson to star in Brett Ratner's "Hercules," which will start production this October in New Zealand.
Studio confirmed Johnson's casting nearly two weeks after Variety first reported that the former WWE star was in talks for the coveted action role.
Scribe Ryan Condal adapted Steve Moore's graphic novel "Hercules: The Thracian War," which debuted in May 2008 via Radical Publishing.
MGM's Roger Birnbaum, Gary Barber and Jonathan Glickman will produce with Peter Berg and his Film 44 partner Sarah Aubrey, as well as Barry Levine of Radical Pictures, whose Jesse Berger will exec produce.
Over the last several years, Johnson has emerged as one of Hollywood's leading action stars. He co-starred in "Fast Five," the highest-grossing film in the "Fast and Furious" franchise, and he currently toplines "Journey 2: The Mysterious Island," which is already outperforming the worldwide gross of the original pic starring Brendan Fraser. Thesp, who's currently prepping for his role as a law-breaking bodybuilder in Michael Bay's "Pain and Gain," next stars in Paramount's action sequel "G.I. Joe: Retaliation."
2. "a none blonde hercules its a miracle" In response to Reply # 0
this is awesome ~~~~ When you are born, you cry, and the world rejoices. Live so that when you die, you rejoice, and the world cries. ~~~~ You cannot hate people for their own good.
i was blinded by sorbo ~~~~ When you are born, you cry, and the world rejoices. Live so that when you die, you rejoice, and the world cries. ~~~~ You cannot hate people for their own good.
13. "You take that back!" In response to Reply # 10
Hercules and xena were awesome! ~~~~ When you are born, you cry, and the world rejoices. Live so that when you die, you rejoice, and the world cries. ~~~~ You cannot hate people for their own good.
6. "I'm looking forward to it" In response to Reply # 0
I'm indifferent to Brett Ratner's movies, but Rock is very talented. It looks like this will be the project he needs to make him an A-list action star.
"Your current frequencies of understanding outweigh that which has been given for you to understand." Saul Williams
17. "RE: you read the whole script, or a brett ratner movie" In response to Reply # 16
i didn't articulate myself well enough. the script is actually well-written and entertaining, but brett hasn't gotten his hands on it yet. they're starting script meetings next month. i have a feeling that ratner is gonna butcher the material and turn what should be a dark and cerebral action film into some cheesy popcorn movie with chariot crashes. that's the disappointing part
"I'm 27x6 cuz I carry the fo'//and I can drop a 16, so I'm ready to go"
23. "I've decided to embrace the awful" In response to Reply # 0
Maybe it'll be an awful cult classic Maybe some camp I love Dwayne he just dropped those shazzam hints so... Yeah Sigh
~~~~ When you are born, you cry, and the world rejoices. Live so that when you die, you rejoice, and the world cries. ~~~~ You cannot hate people for their own good.
24. "LOL @ Y'all gonna kill this movie, but it's a cool summer flick." In response to Reply # 0
To keep it short. If you want to be entertained while beating the heat for 1 hr 38 min, then you will enjoy the movie. It's not about the acting or the meaningful dialog, or charter development. This joint is more about the action and the subtle laughs that keep you going along the ride.
Yeah, Yeah, there are gonna be some Boo Birds and Crying about this and that, but who the flock cares - it's not boring. So just go, take a kid if you can and enjoy the popcorn, fast pace, and cool story about a legend.
Frank Longo Member since Nov 18th 2003 86670 posts
Tue Jul-29-14 03:10 AM
25. "This was enjoyable. Good cast, some strong action. Ratner's best." In response to Reply # 0
He's always shown flair for the occasional action-related "cool moment," but this movie has a good amount of those. It helps that he's never worked with a better cast-- The Rock is immensely likable, and guys like McShane, Sewell, Hurt, and Fiennes are as fun as it gets to watch in a sword-and-sandals flick.
I'll be watching this late at night on TNT where it destined to re-air for a decade. Overall, it works, and fans of the genre would absolutely enjoy. It's better than some of the other sword-and-sandals fare that's come out lately.
Very xena/Hercules type summer popcorn flick ~~~~ When you are born, you cry, and the world rejoices. Live so that when you die, you rejoice, and the world cries. ~~~~ You cannot hate people for their own good.
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