In this week’s cover story for Variety, filmmakers Joe and Anthony Russo are clear that their dedication to their own independent studio, AGBO, means the directors of “Avengers: Endgame” don’t expect to make another movie with Marvel Studios any time soon.
“We won’t be ready to do anything with Marvel until the end of the decade,” Joe Russo says.
The Russos have, however, already returned to Marvel’s parent company, Disney. Through AGBO, they’re producing a live-action adaptation of Disney’s 1997 animated feature “Hercules,” with Guy Ritchie — who helmed the 2019 live-action remake of “Aladdin” — set to direct.
“We have an amazing relationship with them that we’ve built over a decade,” says Joe Russo. “I think we have a point of view on how they can stretch the limits of their IP moving forward, rather than playing IP management.”
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Whereas many of Disney’s recent live-action remakes have been faulted for sticking too closely to the source material, Russo says “Hercules” will be “a little bit more experimental in tone, a little bit more experimental in execution.”
“I think they’re excited to see what we can all bring to it in a way that isn’t just a reinterpretation of the animated film,” Russo adds.
Ritchie is currently working on his own pass of the screenplay from David Callaham (“Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings”).
“Guy is perfect for it because he has penchant for experimentation,” Russo says.
The original “Hercules,” directed by “The Little Mermaid” filmmakers John Musker and Ron Clements, reimagines the legend of the Greek demigod as a story of a rising celebrity who becomes famous due to his acts of heroism. As was the case for all of Disney’s animated films in the 1990s, it’s also a musical, largely sung by a quintet of Black women serving as a Greek chorus.
Russo says the live-action “Hercules” will also be a musical — and share the original’s unconventional approach.
“There are questions about how you translate it as a musical,” Russo says. “Audiences today have been trained by TikTok, right? What is their expectation of what that musical looks like and feels like? That can be a lot of fun and help us push the boundaries a little bit on how you execute a modern musical.”
Along with “Hercules,” AGBO is also collaborating with some of the biggest streaming platforms in the industry. For Netflix, they developing a sequel and prequel to “The Grey Man” and directing the sci-fi adventure “The Electric State” with Millie Bobby Brown and Chris Pratt. And for Amazon Prime Video, they’re producing the wildly ambitious spy thriller “Citadel” with Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Richard Madden, and a reboot of “Butch and Sundance” as an event series to Amazon, with Regé-Jean Page and Glen Powell attached as the titular outlaws.
