OH GODS NO

Live-Action ‘Hercules’ Will Be for the TikTok Generation, Russo Bros Say

Hero to zero, just like that.

It’s always a victory for the art of cinema when filmmakers prostrate themselves before the almighty algorithm. Director-producer brothers Joe and Anthony Russo are working on a live-action adaptation of Hercules for Disney, and they opened up about the process of conceiving the new musical project to Variety, which profiled them earlier this week. The trade quotes a Russo (without making it clear exactly which one, but most likely Joe) as saying, “There are questions about how you translate it as a musical. 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.” Director Guy Ritchie, whose work on 2009’s Sherlock Holmes and 2011’s Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows cancel each other out, will be helming the project. To be fair to the Russos and Disney’s various movers and shakers, Ritchie also directed 2019’s live-action Aladdin, a remake termed “not entirely terrible” by The Daily Beast. Sounds like a project that can go the distance!