Paramount and MGM will co-produce "Hercules," an upcoming film about the mythic hero starring Dwayne Johnson, the studios announced on Wednesday.
MGM had been the sole studio involved with the project, set to begin production in early 2013. However, now Paramount has signed on to the film, which Brett Ratner is attached to direct. Paramount had no comment on whether it would be helping to finance the project as well.
Johnson had been reported as "in talks," and now his casting is official. He last appeared on the big screen in "Journey 2: The Mysterious Island" and will next be seen in "G.I. Joe: Retaliation," another Paramount-MGM collaboration. Johnson also co-stars in Paramount's "Pain & Gain," due in theaters April 26, 2013.
Ratner is directing from a script by Ryan Condal, who adapted the graphic novel "Hercules: The Thracian Wars." It is revisionist take on the classic story where nothing is supernatural.
Ratner is producing with Beau Flynn and Barry Levine.