Deadline is reporting that Walt Disney Pictures and AGBO have enlisted Guy Ritchie (Aladdin; Wrath of Man) to helm Hercules, their upcoming live-action adaptation of the 1997 classic animated film of the same name.
The film is still in the very early stages of development, so we don't have many more details just yet, but the studios are currently meeting with potential screenwriters. The new writer will be working from a first draft written by Dave Callaham (Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse; Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings).
Ritchie previously helmed Aladdin for Disney, and it's no surprise the studio was keen to work with him again after he delivered their third most-successful live-action adaptation ever, as the 2019 blockbuster grossed over $1.05 billion at the global box office ($355.5M domestic; $695.1M foreign.
Ritchie was already attached to direct an Aladdin sequel, so it's unclear which of these two Disney titles will be a bigger priority for him and the studio. Outside of that, Ritchie has the Jason Statham-starrer Operation Fortune: Ruse de guerre set to open later this year and recently wrapped The Interpreter with Jake Gyllenhaal. He's in pre-production on a television series based on The Gentleman and has also announced another directorial venture The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare.
As previously mentioned, The Russo Brothers (Avengers: Endgame; Avengers: Infinity War) are producing the feature under their AGBO banner. It's interesting that the pair chose not to direct as they don't have anything lined up for 2023, at least as far as we know. They recently finished The Gray Man, which is due out on Netflix next month, and are in post-production on the Prime Video series Citadel, so they certainly could've taken the job. Maybe they're currently cooking up something else?