Over the past several years, it seems that live-action remakes have become the heart of Disney. Yes, there have been some great original movies like Encanto and Turning Red, but live-action remakes appear to be Disney’s bread and butter. Over the past 5 years, there have been more than half a dozen live-actions remakes, like Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and Mulan and nearly 20 have been announced for the upcoming years. Live-action remakes are becoming more controversial, as people compare them to the original films, and others want more original content to come from one of the most creative companies in existence.
In 2022, Disney has 3 live-action movies already on the slate, Pinocchio, Peter Pan & Wendy, and The Little Mermaid. The next films set to be released — but do not have release dates — are Snow White and Hercules. Snow White has wrapped filming and is currently in post-production. Hercules is not as far along. At this time, we don’t have casting news, but we do know that the film will be directed by Guy Ritchie.
While the god Hercules is the star of the animated film, there is one character who people love to remember — Phil the Satyr, half-man, half-goat. Phil was a no-nonsense, crotchety old Satyr who perfectly encompassed the man who voiced him, Danny DeVito.
DeVito recently sat down for an interview with Wired and their Web’s Most Searched Questions segment, where he was asked about the live-action remake and whether he wanted to be in it. DeVito responded that not only did he want to be in it, but Disney would be crazy not to put him in it.
I am the live-action Hercules! What are you talking about? Philoctetes? If they don’t put me in that, they don’t have a hair on their ass.
You can watch the full segment below, with DeVito addressing the live-action remake at around the six-minute mark.
In addition to Ritchie being tapped to direct the film, we also know that it will be produced by Anthony Russo and Joe Russo. The Russo brothers are no strangers to the Disney family, having directed a number of Marvel movies, including Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Endgame, and Avengers: Infinity War. The brothers shared that, while music will most certainly be a part of the movie, they cannot say whether it will be as music-heavy as the original animated film.