Guy Ritchie is reportedly exiting the planned Disney live-action remake of its animated classic 1997's Hercules, according to scooper Daniel Richtman as reported by CBR.

Richtman claimed that the acclaimed filmmaker is too busy to direct Hercules and has now shifted focus on his other projects. Disney-focused website, The DisInsider Show has also backed up the scooper's news. The site wrote that they didn't hear that Ritchie had left the project, just that he “has become too busy.”

The director has quite a few on his plate from The Covenant, which premiered in 2023, as well as The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, which is set to open on April 19. He has an as-yet untitled action movie in post-production and another one, Fountain of Youth, in pre-production. Both seem to be big-budget blockbusters, which can sometimes take years to finish. It seems Ritchie just doesn't have time for Hercules.

The long road to Hercules

Disney has been working to remake Hercules into a live-action feature since 2020. Joe and Anthony Russo were set to produce it through their company AGBO. Ritchie has been attached to the remake since the beginning, a year after his other Disney live-action remake 2019's Aladdin was released. Dave Callahan was supposed to be writing the screenplay.

Hercules isn't alone in Disney's roster of planned remakes. Currently in development are The Aristocats, Moana, Snow White and Bambi. Other titles are also in the mix but have not been announced.

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Richtman previously wrote in his newsletter that Taron Egerton, who starred in Kingsman, as well as Ariana Grande, with a Wicked moving coming up, were thought to be the picks for Hercules and Megara, respectively.

There were also rumors that Danny DeVito was in talks with Disney to reprise his role as Hercules' mentor, the satyr Philoctetes. In August 2022, the actor said he was interested in the role and added, “If they don't put me in that they don't have a hair on their ass.”

I hope they do get the project moving forward. It's the best time to do a live-action feature on a Greek demigod. After all, Disney has another group of demigods in their literal camp: Camp Half-Blood. Although Hercules never appeared in the Percy Jackson books, since Disney will be hiring actors to play more demigods in hopefully the second season of the show, they could slide in and just cast a hero to fill those Air-Hercs.