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Peter Berg Resurrecting Hercules
Hancock director turns to Roman heroes
23 July 2008 | Written by Olly Richards | Source: Variety |
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In Hancock, Peter Berg tackled a story of a man with god-like powers. Now he's cutting out the pretenders and turning his attentions to someone who is a god. Or at least a demi-god. But that's more god than most.
Berg is set to make a film based on Hercules, or Heracles to his Greek friends, the son of Zeus, king of the gods, and a mortal woman named Alcmena (not the goddess Hera, as suggested in the scholar-bothering Disney movie).
Berg's film won't be based so much on ancient myth as it will a series of comic books called Hercules: The Thracian Wars. This five-issue series, by Steve Moore, takes place 3,500 years in the past with a tyrannical king trying to unite the disparate tribes of Thrace into one powerful nation. He hires Hercules and his band of mercenaries to lead his army into war.
We're no experts on myths so we're not sure that this is based on events from actual Greek stories. We understand that Hercules did once go to Thrace, but it was for the love of a woman or to do some light shopping, or something – the language in Greek most things dealing with Greek myth is quite hard to penetrate – and we can find no mention of mercenaries. But it does make for a good plot for a movie.
Could this be the first step in a revival of mythological movies? Gods know, there are a ton of great yarns to be exploited. Jason and his argonauts could stand a re-make. That grumpy minotaur deserves some screen time. And there's one about Zeus getting it on with a lady while in the form of a swan, which could form the basis for the strangest romantic comedy ever. Get David Lynch to direct it.
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| I don't know if Argonaughts or Clash of the Titans should be remade, but perhaps new takes on Greek mythology should be explored. CGI minotaurs or Titans would be a welcome update on the outdated but much-loved Ray Harryhausen efforts, and I'd definitely love to see the Hades Underworld get a blockbuster treatment. We need some hot Hollywood babes as Muses too. More
Posted by Woolly_Cully at 08:13 on 24 July 2008 | Report This Post | | | | | Peter Berg losing steam? | i loved both rumble in the jungle and very bad things but hsi more recent movies altough entertaining are by no means anything to sitck on the fridge and be proud of. hancock was throw away eye candy with a very weak plot. he should have stuck to his next film the losers as that would have given him a chance to work with a great premise and a rag tag tema of characters he semes to be very good at. (look at very bad things the guys in that were great with greta dialogue) expect to see the rock i More
Posted by miketang99 at 05:14 on 24 July 2008 | Report This Post | | | | | I'm still betting a live-action movie about the Greek gods will be announced in the coming years. Mark my words. More
Posted by Bluehawk at 22:17 on 23 July 2008 | Report This Post | | | | | This better be filmed in New York, with Samson making a completely logical move from the Bible to Greek myth. More
Posted by John Firth at 17:51 on 23 July 2008 | Report This Post | | | | | Leterrier is remaking Clash of the Titans, which was about Perseus (who slew Medusa). This Hercules plot doesn't sound so interesting, it's a bad idea to save the twelve tasks for a sequel. Sounds like Troy, a dull attempt to dramatise the "real" Trojan War. More
Posted by doctorolorinbats1975 at 14:34 on 23 July 2008 | Report This Post | | | | | I like Berg... | He's got potential to be great if he grows as a helmer. Friday Night Lights is still his best film by a mile. More
Posted by AboyNamedSue at 11:11 on 23 July 2008 | Report This Post | | | | | Expect his trademark shaky camera shots. More
Posted by Ricorodrigeuz at 10:28 on 23 July 2008 | Report This Post | | | | | Last action film to feature Hercules... | Was it Hercules in New York, starring Arnold Strong? More
Posted by britesparc at 10:12 on 23 July 2008 | Report This Post | | | | | RE: Peter Berg Resurrecting Hercules | Does this mean that Peter Berg will now pass on making "Dune" and that it will be made by let's say - Ridley Scott? Because that would be awsome:) More
Posted by jabbathehutt at 10:07 on 23 July 2008 | Report This Post | | | | | I dont know | but this could be interesting...does anyone actually know what was the last live action film to feature Hercules? Cos, off the top of my head I can't. But a remake of Jason and The Argonauts would be great. What I would love to see though is a remake of Clash Of The Titans. Although you cant beat the original. Also, bring back Sinbad!! Those were classics. If they do remakes of that I would like to see how they turn out. More
Posted by Noelg25 at 10:02 on 23 July 2008 | Report This Post | | | | | Isn't Louis Letterier... | ....doing a remake of Jason and the Argonauts?? More
Posted by Seamie at 09:35 on 23 July 2008 | Report This Post | | | | | After having recently seen The Kingdom I wonder when Peter Berg will finally deliver on his next-big-thing-status. Yes, Friday Night Lights was a fine film, but The Kingdom was trying to be too many things at once (with a Michael-Mann-light showdown tacked on) and Hancock also isn't quite a completely successful movie, I hear. So the question remains: is the former Dr. Kronk the director's version of Colin Farrell? More
Posted by Manfrendshensindshen at 09:29 on 23 July 2008 | Report This Post | | | | | UMMM?.... | So does this mean Peter Berg is postponing his work on the new DUNE adaptation? More
Posted by boredbluekoala at 09:05 on 23 July 2008 | Report This Post | | | | | |
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