Although the Russo Brothers don’t expect to make another movie with Marvel Studios until the next decade, the two filmmakers are not ready to leave the studio's parent company behind any time soon. Through their independent studio, AGBO, the Russos are producing Disney's next live-action adaptation of its 1997 animated feature, Hercules.
With Guy Ritchie directing his second live-action Disney film, Joe Russo believes that they have built a strong team within the company to deliver a quality film. “I think we have a point of view on how they can stretch the limits of their IP moving forward, rather than paying IP management,” Joe Russo told Variety.
Disney’s live-action films have yet to hit the mark, often sticking too close to the material or fumbling with the film’s original themes in a way that doesn’t hold any weight, but Russo said Hercules will be “a little bit more experimental in tone, a little bit more experimental in execution.”
'Hercules'Credit: Buena Vista Pictures Distribution
“I think they’re excited to see what we can all bring to it in a way that isn’t just a reinterpretation of the animated film,” Russo said.
The original Hercules was directed by The Little Mermaid filmmakers John Musker and Ron Clements and told a reimagining of the legend of the Greek demigod as a story of a rising celebrity through his heroic actions. The animated film was primarily a musical and was heavily narrated by the Five Muses.
Don’t worry if you loved the music of Hercules as much as I did because Russo confirms that the live-action will also be a musical.
“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 a musical looks like and feels like? That can be a lot of fun and help us push the boundaries a little on how you execute a modern musical.”
TikTok has already inspired the musical theater world, with Ratatouille and Bridgertonbeing some of the more successful TikTok musicals on the platform. With creators already winning a Grammy for Best Musical Theater Album, the app has already paved a new road for a new generation to create and watch new musicals. So how do modern big-budget musicals compete?
It will be an interesting sight to see once we get our first glimpse at the film, but the Russos are keeping themselves busy working with some of the biggest streaming platforms in the industry like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video.
Let us know what you think of this influence on the live-action Hercules movie in the comments below!
Source: Variety
