.....And then there was Brett Ratner.
The cast and director of the upcoming Hercules sat down for a QnA in London. Ratner opened the event by singing the praises of his leading man Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. He said “Dwayne is not only an international superstar but one of the greatest guys I’ve met, a great father, a great human being, and a fantastic actor”. It was one of those rare moments where Ratner got something right, and The Rock joined him on stage. Ian McShane, who plays Amphiaraus in the mythical tale, says of the film “It’s not a 3 hour shoot ‘em up, it’s basically like Seven Samurai. It’s a classic story that kids can enjoy too”. Johnson speaks of the process of developing the character, saying he “Really got to know the graphic novel, got to know the script very well, spent a lot of time with our writer Evan (Spiliotopoulos), and then really spent a lot of time with my directors, talking about different variations, different things we were gonna bring to the character, bring to the story that was gonna make it different”. Irina Shayk described the working with her fellow actors and being chosen for the film as “A dream come true”. Finally, John Hurt persuades the audience to see the enjoyment in the film, saying “Look at it all! It looks like fun!”
You’re not wrong John, Hercules looks like it could be enjoyable, but comparing a Brett Ratner film to Seven Samurai is really a stretch, Mr. McShane. But the cast and the director seem very positive about the film, and hopefully it does well.
Hercules is out July 25th