Exclusive: Danny DeVito Returning As Phil In Live-Action Hercules Remake
Danny DeVito has signed on to return as Phil in the Hercules live-action remake.
Disney has been pumping out its live-action remakes for years now, and the company had announced that Hercules was going to be next on the list, much to the dismay of many people. However, through our trusted and proven sources, we can report that Danny DeVito has signed on to return as Phil in the remake. While we are not sure how a live-action Hercules is going to look, DeVito returning is the only logical move Disney could have made for the remake.
For those who may not remember, Danny DeVito portrayed Phil in the original animated Hercules cartoon. Phil is a satyr (half man, half goat), whose full name is Philoctetes, and his rude temperament was perfected by DeVito’s acting. Again, we aren’t sure how that is going to translate in the live-action format, but we are excited to see him returning to one of his best roles.
Interestingly, Guy Ritchie is also tasked with taking on directing this live-action Hercules movie. Ritchie was responsible for the live-action remake of Aladdin, which made a staggering $1.054 billion at the worldwide box office. Ritchie could have been one of the driving forces in bringing Danny DeVito back, and we salute him for doing so.
Danny DeVito did call out Disney for not immediately contacting him to return as Phil in this new live-action Hercules, and he used some rather unsavory language to do so. However, it appears the House of Mouse is ignoring that callout and did right by the actor by asking him to return to the role. DeVito isn’t the only cast member that we have reported on, as we also revealed that Taron Egerton is the front-runner to portray Hercules and Henry Cavill is set to take on Hades.
Aladdin benefited from having a huge star like Will Smith portray Genie, and it appears that Disney is now attempting to replicate that same success with some more high-level talent. Taron Egerton, Danny DeVito, and Henry Cavill are certainly going to be a winning combo in Hercules, though we are not sure if Cavill can capture the same magic that James Woods did in the animated movie.
This new live-action Hercules movie is also going to take things in a bit of a different direction, as the story is said to be more of an updated look at the Greek mythos that the original cartoon is based on. Ritchie is going to be focusing more on a contemporary look at Hercules, which we are not sure how that may look. Hercules could be some run-of-the-mill teenager who accomplishes great feats when he is trained by Phil (Danny DeVito).
More news about this new Disney remake is certainly going to be unveiled in the coming months, and we will certainly report it to everyone as soon as we hear it. For now, everyone can buy more into this new contemporary story, as Danny DeVito is returning as Phil. Hercules would not have been the same without Phil, and now we get to see how DeVito plays this new version of the character, which we hope includes him dressing up like a satyr.
