A couple weeks ago, it was reported that Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson - who's starred in films such as
Fast Five and the upcoming
G.I. Joe: Retaliation -
was in talks to star in
Hercules, which will be directed by
X-Men: The Last Stand's Brett Ratner. Now,
Variety reports that MGM has closed a deal with Johnson to star in the film, which will start production this October in New Zealand. The writer of the film, Ryan Condal, adapted Steve Moore's graphic novel
Hercules: The Thracian War, which was released by Radical Publishing in 2008. MGM's Roger Birnbaum, Gary Barber and Jonathan Glickman will produce the movie with Peter Berg and his Film 44 partner Sarah Aubrey, as well as Barry Levine of Radical Pictures, whose Jesse Berger will exec produce.
Below is a plot summary for
Hercules: The Thracian War:
Fourteen hundred years ago, a tormented soul walked the earth that was neither man nor god. Hercules was the powerful son of the god king Zeus, for this he received nothing but suffering his entire life. After twelve arduous labors and the loss of his family, this dark, world-weary soul turned his back on the gods finding his only solace in bloody battle. Over the years he warmed to the company of six similar souls, their only bond being their love of fighting and presence of death. These men and woman never question where they go to fight or why or whom, just how much they will be paid. Now the King of Thrace has hired these mercenaries to train his men to become the greatest army of all time. It is time for this bunch of lost souls to finally have their eyes opened to how far they have fallen when they must train an army to become as ruthless and blood thirsty as their reputation has become.
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