If there’s an actor in the business today who can embody the legendary strongman Hercules, it’s got to be be Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. Unsurprisingly then, the Fast & Furious 6 star has pulled the title role in Hercules: the Thracian Wars, due out next year.
Among those working on the project are director Bret Ratner (Rush Hour 3, X-Men: The Last Stand), producers Sarah Aubrey (Battleship, Friday Night Lights), Beau Flynn (Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters, Requiem For a Dream), and Barry Levine (Oblivion), and veteran writer of direct-to-video Disney sequels Evan Spiliotopoulus. Ok, so competent industry vets all, but not exactly the kind of crew that lights up the billboards.
With one exception, perhaps. As Johnson just tweeted, production design is being handled by Jean-Vincent Puzos:
Our HERCULES set created by award winning designer Jean-Vincent Puzos w/ great detail. I sit in awe.. #ThracianWars pic.twitter.com/s0ZDJY058S
— Dwayne Johnson (@TheRock) July 7, 2013
Puzos has worked on everything from last year’s Oscar contender Amour to the epic period piece 10,000 B.C. to the action/drama Lord of War. Amour, for one, while small was immaculately dressed, and garnered a nomination at the Cesar Awards in France last year.
Hercules: The Thracian Wars is based off a comic book of the same name by Admira Wijaya and Steve Moore. It is currently filming in Hungary, and is set to release next summer.