Meager on plotting and adherence to Edith Hamilton's Mythology, but generous in its depictions of hot, built, shirtless guys in tight leather trousers, Kevin Sorbo's Hercules: The Legendary Journeys was required viewing for a certain kind of boy coming of age in the middle-to-late 1990s.
Now the Twilight generation has its own Hercules over which to pine longingly. Lionsgate will be releasing Hercules: The Legend Begins in early February, and the demigod will be played Kellan Lutz, a mere mortal with the chiseled physique of marble statuary. IMDb.com says: "When prince Hercules learns of his real identity, he must choose to flee with his true love -- Hebe, Princess of Crete -- or to fulfill his destiny by overthrowing the tyrannical rule of the king and restoring peace to a land in hardship." Hebe is played by Gaia Weiss. Renny Harlin (Die Hard 2) will direct. Thank Jupiter (Hercules is the Roman name, look it up) that someone has given super hottie Johnathon Schaech (Doom Generation) a role here too, as King Amphitryon. Schaech's got a full IMDb.com page too, but we don't recognize most of the titles.
By the way, Dwayne Johnson's bigger-budget Hercules movie, directed by Brett Ratner, will make its way to screens July 25. So there's something for everyone -- if that something includes varieties of built strongmen in (we're hoping) mere shreds of loose-fitting cloth. Here's the trailer for the movie's bona fides (read: copious shirtlessness).
Watch the trailer below:
