Disney's Most Exciting Live-Action Remake Not Snow White, Moana, Or Lilo & Stitch
Disney has several much awaited live-action adaptations scheduled for the near future, but one neglected film is the most exciting of all. Even with the exciting announcements of the live-action Moana, Lilo & Stitch, Snow White, and several other upcoming Disney live-action Movies, including the much awaited live-action Lion King follow-up Mufasa, which will hit theatres in December 2024, there are even more that for the most part are going unnoticed. Disney's live-action Little Mermaid's poor box-office performance begged serious questions about the popularity of the forthcoming remakes, even if some titles are sure to be huge hits.
Guy Ritchie's Disney After Aladdin Success Return
Renowned franchise director Guy Ritchie, most known for his humorous action thrillers including Snatch, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., and The Gentlemen, helmed Disney's live-action Aladdin in 2019. Aladdin brought in over $1 billion at the global box office, thus Ritchie proved he could manage large-scale projects of this kind for Disney when he's not producing his usual brand of rather low-budget action Movies. Arguably the most exciting of all forthcoming live-action adaptations, Ritchie has been tapped to create both the live-action Hercules and the live-action Aladdin follow-up Aladdin 2, which still has no official release date.
Why Disney's Most Exciting Live-Action Remake Is Hercules
After Ritchie's triumph with Aladdin, which drew mixed reviews from critics despite ranking among the top 50 highest-grossing films of all time, his participation in Hercules is even more intriguing than his return for Aladdin 2. Most importantly, among Disney's huge catalog, the original music for the animated 1997 Hercules is among the best; classic tracks like "Go the Distance," "I Won't Say (I'm in Love)," and "Zero to Hero" abound. Disney's live-action Hercules, Hades, Zeus, and the Titans could be among the best live-action blockbusters ever produced since they have great potential to enthrall audiences to theaters.
Hercules already got a live-action version in 2014 starring Dwayne Johnson that basically failed at the box office, which would have had some bearing on Disney's lack of involvement. At the worldwide box office in 1997, the cherished Disney animated original brought in $250 million—equivalent to $474 million now. The great characters, story, and music in the original Hercules inspire hope that the expected Hercules remake will surpass its predecessor and help to offset the bad performance of The Little Mermaid remake.
Hercules Can Get Right What Earlier Disney Remakes Have Not
Though both of the highest-grossing films of their respective years, modern-day Disney live-action adaptations—which essentially started with Kenneth Branagh's Cinderella in 2015 and Jon Faverau's The Jungle Book in 2016—have seen a recent downturn in availability. With a whopping $254 million production budget, 2017's Beauty and the Beast is still the most expensive movie musical ever produced; Hercules could fairly top that given its strong reliance on CGI elements, especially with regard to its representations of Zeus, Hades, and the Titans.
Disney's large investment on Beauty and the Beast paid off; the movie brought in $1.263 billion. Disney's live-action Hercules adaptation as well as other upcoming projects should continue to pay off under their big risk, big reward approach. One of the main grievances regarding the live-action Little Mermaid, though, is the CGI distortion of some of the characters, which gives them odd rather than beautiful appearance instead of that in the original animated feature. Though it will certainly cost Disney a lot of money, the live-action Hercules will have to maximize its CGI if it is to replicate the popularity of Beauty and the Beast.
Creating Live-Action Hercules Justice Still Present Challenge for Disney
Original Hercules is still a classic and will always be a Disney animated film fan favorite. Disney seems rather determined about its live-action aspirations, even if some of them have been huge letdowns and others have been mega hits. For example, Aladdin made $1 billion while The Little Mermaid just barely made half of that; but, external factors like the rising popularity of streaming services surely have a major role in explaining why.
Given how much Hercules is probably going to cost with all the production needs in CGI, casting, and above all, the musical numbers, Disney most certainly could have Hercules as its biggest live-action film ever. Not going all in on Ritchie's Hercules could produce an underwhelming product that would discourage viewers from seeing Disney films in theatres even further, choosing to wait until they inevitably arrive on Disney+. Should Disney fail with Hercules, it could truly bring about catastrophe for Disney's live-action films going forward.
Walt Disney Pictures' 1997 animated picture Hercules reinterpreted the classical myth of Hercules. Tate Donovan voices the young hero, who must prove himself deserving of immortality by defeating James Woods's villainous Hades, who plans to topple Zeus. Beside him are the devoted trainer Phil and the damsel with a complicated past, Megara. To make an interesting trip, the movie combines Greek mythology with a lively musical score.
