If I’m an actor – any actor – and I’m doing the exact same type of movie that Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson is doing, I pull the plug on my project and send Mr. The Rock and apology note. Because most of the time, Rock’s going to be able to do it better ... especially when the movie in question is a full-blown action movie like The Legend of Hercules.
An exclusive trailer for the January release landed on Fandango. It shows us Twilight heartthrob Kellan Lutz as the titular hero, a sword-and-sandal warrior caught in an epic mash-up between Gladiator, Braveheart and Troy, with more than enough slo-mo to make 300 director Zack Snyder cringe. This is Renny Harlin at the helm, however. Does that make it better?
Here is part of the problem facing The Legend of Hercules. Later next year, in July, The Rock is releasing a Hercules movie with Brett Ratner in the director’s chair. Now, Ratner doesn’t inspire confidence. But anyone with eyeballs can see that The Rock cuts a far-more convincing Hercules than Lutz. Not that Lutz is bad. I just can’t see very many scenarios where I’d embrace a non-Rock Hercules movie over a Rock-led Hercules movie. Does that makes sense?
Still, Lutz has a movie to sell, and Legend has released a slew of fun items to accompany this first trailer. An infographic breaks down the number of warriors Hercules has battled over the course of his lifetime:
And MTV also shared exclusive images. Here are a few of our favorites:
I just feel a little bad for Lutz. He couldn’t know that another Hercules movie was in production … and with The Rock in the lead. Right? That’s just bad luck. Tell us, will you see both? If you could only choose one, which would you lean towards?
