Dwayne Johnson Set to Play Hercules

Don’t worry, this isn’t a reboot of Arnold Shwarzenegger’s “it’s so bad it’s good” rendition of the mighty godling. Instead, Dwayne Johnson will be starring in a brand new take on Hercules, based off the insanely popular graphic novel by Radical Publishing… Hercules The Thracian War.

Filming is set to take place in New Zealand, which can only mean great things! That’s where some of the greatest period pieces are made nowadays. The Hobbit is still filming there at the moment, and the newest season of Spartacus was shot there over the past few months. Seriously, those Kiwis know how to provide a great environment for film makers!

Oh, but did I forget to mention that Bret Ratner is filming? You know, the guys responsible for X-Men The Last Stand… as well as that whole Academy Award fiasco from last year. Oh well… it should be decent. I don’t imagine it could ever be better than the graphic novel, but at least it has a great source material to work from.

Here’s the official synopsis.

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.