HERCULES

[nell]

www.deadline.com/2013/03/rufus-sewell-joining-dwayne-johnson-in-mgms-hercules/

EXCLUSIVE: Rufus Sewell is set to star as Autolycus alongside Dwayne Johnson in Hercules for MGM. Ryan Condal has written the film and Brett Ratner is directing. Ratner will produce with Barry Levine and Beau Flynn. After renouncing his mythological origins, Hercules lives in exile and fights as a mercenary for hire alongside his loyal but weary comrades. Hercules and his crew will face their most challenging labor yet when one battle forces the man behind the myth to question everything he once believed, and reconsider the truth behind his own legend. The pic has been set to open July 25, 2014.

Sewell is currently starring in the play Old Times at the Harold Pinter Theater in London. He is repped by WME, Parseghian Planco and Julian Belfrage & Associates.

[rueful]

Buff indeed! (Loved the character Autolycus in the old Hercules/Xena tv series, and I hope he is just as fun here.)

This should be a huge picture, The Rock's movies tend to do very well.

Thanks for this info, Nell!

[nell]

A bit more on the storyline in this one

www.comicbookmovie.com/fansites/JoshWildingNewsAndReviews/news/?a=76115

Here's the story bit

Fourteen hundred years ago, a tormented soul walked the earth that was neither man nor god. Hercules was the powerful son of the god king Zeus, for this he received nothing but suffering his entire life. After twelve arduous labors and the loss of his family, this dark, world-weary soul turned his back on the gods finding his only solace in bloody battle. Over the years he warmed to the company of six similar souls, their only bond being their love of fighting and presence of death. These men and woman never question where they go to fight or why or whom, just how much they will be paid. Now the King of Thrace has hired these mercenaries to train his men to become the greatest army of all time. It is time for this bunch of lost souls to finally have their eyes opened to how far they have fallen when they must train an army to become as ruthless and blood thirsty as their reputation has become.
Read more at www.comicbookmovie.com/fansites/JoshWildingNewsAndReviews/news/?a=76115#V2fje3jpXM15MLYX.99

[romagirl1]

;D

So much to look forward to!

[Petruchio - Good God]

fab news... WELCOME Autolycus, you lovely Prince of thieves

[adina]

!

www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=19043 This was an interview with Steve Moore, the writer of the original comic book.
"If we were going to do it “gritty,” I wanted to give some idea of the brutality of ancient warfare, rather than a prettified “fantasy movie” version."
"(...) as I tend to be more of an instinctive rather than an analytical writer. I think it basically comes down to the fact that I wanted, as much as possible, to treat Hercules as a real person, rather than some sort of superhero, which is a genre I detest and which, fortunately, I’ve always managed to avoid writing. Real people, of course, are surrounded by other people, which allows you a much greater scope for character development if they’re interacting with one another."
"To me, the whole essence of the freelance life is that you have multiple opportunities to spread your talents around and do different stuff for different publishers. And if that means that you don’t know where your next paycheck is coming from when you’ve finished your current series, well, that’s the adventure. That’s what keeps you on your toes, rather than stagnating in a safe job producing some idiotic superhero, month after month."
"I’m assured, though, that everyone wants the movie to be a pretty close adaptation of the comic book, which suits me."

I think this is a rather interesting article and it has 20 pages added from the HERCULES: THE THRACIAN WARS, so I have a guess how Moore meant "I really wanted to portray war as something awful, bloody and definitely unromantic." www.comicbookresources.com/prev_img.php?pid=1534&pg=1 (Warning before you click: it has a strong beginning.)


I had to google Autolycus. Wikipedia: "Autolycus obtained most of the same skills that his supposed father Hermes possesses, such as the art of theft, trickery, and skill with the lyre and gracious song. It was said that he "loved to make white of black, and black of white, from a hornless animal to a horned one, or from horned one to a hornless". He was given the gift that his thievery could not be caught by anyone." ;D I don't see now how the lyre thing fits into Moore's world, but come, Rufus, and entertain us.

I hope Rufus will enjoy filming in Hungary , and I hope we'll have enough fake blood.

[barbicanbelle]

I can NOT wait!!!!!!!

[kissmekate]

, that sounds intriguing!

Adina, I do hope they make a little bit of space for the lyre thing!

[walt]

! That's intriguing news! Thanks so much for posting, Nell and Adina!

[lovethemanrs]

Hmmmmmm, this is gonna be interesting

Perhaps he's been practising the singing whilst working on OT.

I feel a cross between Agamemnon and Tom Builder coming on....wonderful....

[kygal]

Exciting news. I bet he will have fun with this role.

[Petruchio - Good God]

Mar 21, 2013 8:38:22 GMT lovethemanrs said:

I feel a cross between Agamemnon and Tom Builder coming on....wonderful....

A wonderful idea... starting to dreaming already...

[rueful]

Thanks for the extra info, Adina and Nell! Very interesting, especially the interview with the comic book writer.

That preview is quite gritty and bloody (LOL, adina--you should have known your warning wouldn't stop us from looking). I'm sure fans of the series are hoping the film will be entirely faithful, but I think I'll hope for slightly less gore in the film and slightly more hair on Autolycus's head. ;D

[robela]

Thanks for the info Nell, Rueful, Adina!

This is not my kind of thing really but I am very very pleased that Rufus has secured a decent role in which I assume will be a reasonably popular film.

I of course will go to see Rufus in anything. So will look forward to it.

[lovethemanrs]

Oh dear that's another one that Zenina won't be watching. x