A couple days ago, we got our first look at Twilight star Kellan Lutz in the upcoming prequel film Hercules: The Legend Begins and now we have the very first look at the full trailer which makes clear that Hercules is battling to be reunited with the love of his life.
Along with Lutz, Liam McIntyre (Spartacus), Gaia Weiss (Mary Queen of Scotts), Scott Adkins (The Bourne Ultimatum) and co-producer Jonathan Yunger, director Renny Harlin debuted the full version at NY Comic-Con.
The sword-and-sandal film works like a charm and delivers a good old fashioned genre romp with some magnificent-looking fight scenes as well as some impressive landscapes including a colossal arena teeming with people, and a dangerous trek across a desert.
The 3D slick-looking fantasy epic is slated to open in theaters in March 2014.
Check out the full trailer for one of two Hercules movies on the horizon; the other is directed by Brett Ratner with Dwayne Johnson on the lead role in the rival project, Hercules: The Thracian Wars.
Synopsis:
In Ancient Greece 1200 B.C., a queen succumbs to the lust of Zeus to bear a son promised to overthrow the tyrannical rule of the king and restore peace to a land in hardship. But this prince, Hercules, knows nothing of his real identity or his destiny. He desires only one thing: the love of Hebe, Princess of Crete, who has been promised to his own brother. When Hercules learns of his greater purpose, he must choose: to flee with his true love or to fulfill his destiny and become the true hero of his time. The story behind one of the greatest myths is revealed in this action-packed epic – a tale of love, sacrifice and the strength of the human spirit.
Cut to Harlin and cast talking about the movie at the NYCC Hercules: The Legend Begins panel:
This ‘Hercules' tells the story of a young man before he realizes his godly ancestry. Raised as the son of a king (Adkins, ‘one of the greatest martial artists in the world,' says Harlin), he's betrayed and sent off to war and sold into slavery. But rather than sending things flying into the air with swords most of the time, the love story between Hercules and the Princess Hebe ‘was very much the heart of the movie,' says Harlin. The demigod must accept his newfound destiny and find his way back to his love. ‘Hercules: The Legend Begins' marks Kellan Lutz's first time as a leading man, in addition to the feature film debut of Liam McIntyre.
‘Hercules really is the original superhero,' said Harlin, who believes the most commonly portrayed image of this figure is but a caricature of his actual self. Recalling what he told Lutz during production, he said, ‘let's not create a stereotype of Hercules. Get cut, look great, but I don't want you to be a giant.'
Although, fans of the Lutz man will be pleased to know that there is no shortage of shirtless moments. Every day the cast would stretch, and Harlin said jokingly he'd spot Lutz and rub Tiger balm on his muscles. ‘Huge oil budget.'
Directing a Hercules movie was ‘a childhood dream' for Harlin, having grown up with a love for greek mythology and appreciation for films like ‘Ben-Hur' and the original ‘Spartacus.' ‘There are two dreams every (director) has. One is to make a Western, and one is to make a historical epic.” Lutz, however, seemed to have a slightly different hope for the future growing up: ‘It's every boy's dream to ride horses and fight Spartacus with swords.'
When Harlin was first reading the script for ‘Hercules,' he didn't know he would incorporate 3D down the road, but soon found himseld designing every shot of the film for the format. ‘3D can be mind-blowingly beautiful,' he said, referencing Alfonso Cuaron's ‘Gravity.' ‘3D is about creating a world where you're inside it.'
But one thing that needed to happen in order to adapt to the format was getting the male actors to shave their legs. ‘Hair in 3D is not pretty,' joked Lutz.
With Lutz and McIntyre on board the project and believing in Harlin's overall vision, the main casting issue was finding the female lead, Hebe. Hundreds of actresses auditioned for the role, though none could achieve the right combination of looks, brawn and innocence. Meanwhile, Gaia Weiss, an unknown working out of London at the time, was running lines with a friend for his ‘Hercules' audition. It wasn't until days later that her French agent scored her her own audition, and after a read through and screen test, Harlin frantically phoned co-producer Jonathan Yunger to reveal the good news — they found their Hebe.
As for her chemistry with on-screen love interest, she had nothing but steamy things to say … about the sex scenes, anyway. ‘It was so good, I didn't wanna rush it,' she said, while Lutz admitted they couldn't stop giggling throughout. In fact, that line Weiss used was originated by Lutz and pertains to ice cream on which the two were chowing down during a break between an intimate moment.
