It will have been one year ago this Saturday when we shared the news that Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson was in talks to star as the titular character in director Brett Ratner’s upcoming version of HERCULES, and today we have news on who will be joining the action superstar in the adaptation of Steve Moore’s graphic novel “Hercules: The Thracian War”.
Norwegian superstar Aksel Hennie, who just appeared in a star-making turn in the slick thriller HEADHUNTERS, will be tackling the role of Tydeus, a faithful liege to Hercules, the son of Zeus. The character of Tydeus is described as an insane, double axe wielding warrior who, while sleeping, must be chained up at night in order to prevent unwanted destruction.
In a recent MTV interview, The Rock also shared his excitement about playing the role of Hercules, describing the character as one of his childhood heroes and another dream come true. The FAST & FURIOUS star also mentioned that the development of his Hercules character has been on his mind for sometime now, providing some character detail describing his vision of the mighty warrior-prince as being
“more dramatic and survived in barren lands and not necessarily slick in a way or anything like that.”
As for what the film may entail, the synopsis of the graphic novel from which it is based reads like this:
When the Thracian King summons the Greek hero and his six battle-worn companions to mold the Thracian army into a bloodthirsty, ruthless killing machine, the Son of Zeus rushes to answer the call of war and gold. But within the nation of Thrace lies an epic tale of war, murder, deception, and sacrifice that shows Hercules how far from grace he’s fallen- and what he must accomplish for redemption.
Ryan Condol is penning the screenplay. MGM’s Roger Birnbaum, Gary Barber and Jonathan Glickman will produce with Peter Berg and his Film 44 partner Sarah Aubrey.