Thanks to their time as part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Joe and Anthony Russo comfortably rank among the most successful filmmakers in the history of the industry. As well as being the directors of the highest-grossing movie ever made, and the only names other than James Cameron to have helmed two films that earned over $2 billion globally, in terms of total combined earnings, only the back catalogue of Steven Spielberg has made more money at the box office.
You’d think that would give them the impetus to take it easy for a while, but the Russos are busier than they’ve ever been. Tom Holland thriller Cherry is in the can and awaiting release, the cast of Netflix’s $200 million espionage blockbuster The Gray Man is starting to fill out and the siblings have just signed on to direct graphic novel adaptation The Electric State with Millie Bobby Brown set to star.
Then there’s their AGBO production company, which delivered Netflix’s biggest original movie ever in Extraction, and is poised to launch an entire shared universe. The Avengers: Endgame directors are also set to produce Disney’s live-action Hercules remake, and in a recent interview, they revealed that the first draft of the script is very close to completion.
“We have an incredible writer on it, Dave Callaham, and he’s off on script. We should be seeing something in the next week or two, I think. We’re keeping that all under wraps for now. We want the audiences to have some discoveries about what’s fresh about our take.”
This is the first news we’ve heard about Hercules since the project was initially announced in April, so we shouldn’t expect to see it anytime soon. After all, the Russos are plenty busy at the moment. But with Cruella, The Lion King and Aladdin sequels, The Little Mermaid, Peter Pan & Wendy and Pinocchio all coming to either Disney Plus or theaters over the next couple of years, it seems that the production line of live-action remakes will roll on for a while yet.
