With the disappointing box office performance of Tower Heist and a gay slur that led to him stepping down as producer of the Academy Awards, 2011 ended on a pretty low note for Brett Ratner. However, the director is slowly taking steps to make amends, starting with a GLAAD video campaign that he will be directing and producing. Now this week there has been an announcement regarding his next movie, and if all goes according to plan it looks like it will be another big tentpole for MGM. Variety is reporting that Ratner will direct Hercules with Dwayne Johnson in talks for the lead role. What can I say? Apparently you can’t keep a good Rat down.

The Hercules project has been around for a few years now, originating in the wake of Zack Snyder’s 300. The movie is based on Steve Moore’s graphic novel Hercules: The Thracian War, which was published through Radical Comics back in 2008. Peter Berg was previously attached to direct, and he remains on board as a producer with Ryan Condol (Paradise Lost) writing the script.

The Rock has already headlined one sword and sandals flick previously, that being The Mummy spin-off / prequel The Scorpion King. Something tells me this one will cost twice as much and be only half the fun, although I have nothing to base this on since I haven’t actually seen The Scorpion King. Either way, perhaps this will give us a glimpse at the Conan the Barbarian movie that could have been if Brett Ratner had ended up directing it. What do you think, are you willing to give Brett Ratner’s Hercules a shot?

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