Disney is hellbent on remaking as many of their animated classics as they can, and Hercules recently joined the ever-growing line-up. The remake of the 1997 animated musical is being produced by the Russo Brothers, and while it’s still way too early to see how things will shake out, the Russos are promising their take on the material is going to offer something new, and not follow in the footsteps of the recent shot-for-shot Lion King remake.
I’m very tired of the barrage of Disney live-action remakes, but Disney sure isn’t. And understandably so, since they tend to clean up at the box office. But there’s something doubly disappointing when the House of Mouse uses this as an excuse to stage shot-for-shot remakes – see Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King. My personal favorite of the recent live-action remakes was Pete’s Dragon, which jettisoned almost the entire original story for something new. Of course, Pete’s Dragon was the lowest-performing at the box office of the recent remakes, so what the hell do I know.
Thankfully, though, when it comes to the Hercules remake, producers the Russo Brothers are open to trying new things. Speaking with Collider, the filmmaking duo promised their take on Hercules won’t be a “literal translation” of the 1997 movie. Anthony Russo told the outlet:
“Well, I think you always have to bring something new to the table because from our perspective as storytellers, it’s not compelling for us to do a literal translation. We’ve already done that with our Marvel films. We don’t do literal translations of the comics because we feel like if you want that story you can go read that story. We’re going to give you a different story. I think we’ll do something that’s in the vein of the original and inspired by it, but we also bring some new elements to the table.”
This is an approach I wish more of these live-action remakes would take, as it keeps things interesting, and fresh. Why watch a shot-for-shot remake when you can just go rewatch the original?
Beyond the quote above, the Russos added that they’re not entirely sure if their Hercules will be a musical like the original. “We can’t say one way or the other,” Anthony Russo said. “[But] music will certainly be a part of it.” Anthony Russo added: “Both us and our kids are Hercules fanatics. And we had heard that Disney was interested in revisiting it and we’re in love with the original. And we made a case as to why we felt we would be right to produce that film and here we are.”
Source: Read Full Article