Last November the upcoming live-action film about the legend of Hercules took some major step forwards. With Brett Ratner already attached to helm the project it was announced that Dwayne Johnson would be playing the titular lead. What's more, a deal was forged between Paramount and MGM in which the two studios would agree to co-produce the title. At the time it was said that production would begin in early 2014, but a specific release date had not been set - though it was said they were targeting summer 2014. Today that target is no longer imaginary.
Brett Ratner's Hercules will be released on August 8, 2014, according to THR. The film will specifically be based on the Radical Studios graphic novel Hercules: The Thracian Wars, and will be "a revisionist take on the classic myth and is set in a world where the supernatural does not exist." Ryan Condal wrote the original draft of the script while Evan Spiliotopoulos came in later for rewrites.
The film is currently the only movie scheduled to be released that week, however, it will be facing off against a hardcore opponent from the previous weekend: Marvel Studios' Guardians of the Galaxy. If the success the comic book studio had with The Avengers continues into their Phase Two plans and writer/director James Gunn produces a quality product it could mean trouble for Hercules right off the bat.
Given the release date the film will likely go into production soon, but for those in need of a Dwayne Johnson fix he has Snitch (2/22), G.I. Joe: Retaliation (3/29), Pain and Gain (4/26), and Fast Six (5/24) coming out in the first half of this year.
