Disney's recent spate of live-action remakes of their animated classics has been weird, to say the least. Other words that describe the live-action Disney remakes are "soulless," "unnecessary," and " cinematic abominations so devoid of artistry that Fellini is spinning in his grave faster than a 35mm reel in a broken movie projector," to name a few.
One of the litanies of problems that assail the quality of Disney's live-action remakes is how unimaginative they are. Instead of offering a fresh take that possesses the spirit of the original animated film, Disney live-action remakes deviate so minimally from their predecessors that they end up feeling repetitive at best and pointless at worst.
According to Variety, the Russo brothers, the directors of Avengers: Endgame, are looking to make their live-action remake of Hercules more experimental by infusing the film with elements of Tik Tok. I mean, if anyone could make it work, it's the Russo brothers, but color me skeptical.
The Russos have, however, already returned to Marvel's parent company, Disney. Through AGBO, they're producing a live-action adaptation of Disney's 1997 animated feature "Hercules," with Guy Ritchie — who helmed the 2019 live-action remake of "Aladdin" — set to direct. Whereas many of Disney's recent live-action remakes have been faulted for sticking too closely to the source material, Russo says "Hercules" will be "a little bit more experimental in tone, a little bit more experimental in execution." "There are questions about how you translate it as a musical," Russo says. "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."
