Renny Harlin is about as far away from his glory days directing Die Hard 2 and Cliffhanger as possible. It's been years since he made a film that made much of an impact anywhere, but the veteran director may be on the cusp of a comeback. THR reports that Millennium has hired him to direct Hercules 3D, a $70M project they hope to have ready by March 2014.
But wait, isn't there already a Hercules film in development? Yep, and that one has Dwayne Johnson in the title role with Brett Ratner directing for a planned August 2014 release, so it makes for some pretty stiff competition. Is there enough room for two films based on the Prince of Power? Harlin seems to think so....
Harlin: "It's not a comic book, cartoony fantasy thing. It's closer to Gladiator than flying horses. I think these are very different kinds of movies in their approach to this legendary character. Obviously, Hercules has been portrayed in many different films, such as the Disney animated movie. I wish them luck. Ancient Greek mythology is an endless source of good stories ... Let's see both movies be successful."
Ratner's film is based on the Radical Comics series, Hercules: The Thracian War, and has the demigod training a barbarian King's ruthless army. Harlin's version, written by Sean Hood and Hannah Weg, will apparently be more down to earth.
There can never be enough adaptations of Greek mythology as far as I'm concerned, and I'm excited to see how both versions play out. Harlin's not much of a draw anymore, so they'll probably need to get a big name to make this all worthwhile.
