Why deny it, uh oh: Disney, cut the check already, because Jennifer Hudson was born to star in the live-action “Hercules” remake.
Apart from a directive straight from Mount Olympus, basically everyone agrees that the Oscar-winner is the perfect fit to appear in the long-gestating Disney film based on the 1997 animated classic.
Now Hudson is officially leading her own campaign to play one of the film’s scene-stealing muses, who serve as a Greek chorus of sorts to the adventures of the eponymous half-man/half-god.
While responding to fan queries in a recent installment of Wired’s video series “…Answers the Web’s Most Searched Questions,” Hudson was asked who she’s playing in the upcoming “Hercules” film, confirmed to be in development as of last year.
“Y’all listen close. All my ‘Dreamgirls’ cast members — this is a fun fact — have been in Disney films,” she said before listing off her co-stars from the film. “Anika (Noni Rose), Beyoncé, Jamie (Foxx), Eddie (Murphy) has done everything. Where’s my Disney role?”
Hudson explained that she’d already portrayed the head muse, Calliope, in a stage show on the Disney Wonder cruise ship titled “Hercules: The Muse-ical” where she worked before her career took off on “American Idol.”
“That means I’m ready for my part,” she stated before launching into a few very convincing bars from the film’s opening number.
Hudson continued: “That was me, Calliope. So I’m ready, just roll the camera. You ain’t even got to send a script, I don’t need the music. I’m ready to shoot. So I’ll just wait for your call, thank you.”
A live-action remake of the fantasy musical is indeed in the works. “Avengers: Endgame” directors Joe and Anthony Russo are attached to produce the film with a script from “Shang-Chi” writer Dave Callaham.
But we’ve heard little else about the project in recent months, except that the Russo brothers don’t plan on making a “literal translation” of the animated movie, unlike other recent live-action Disney remakes.
“I think you always have to bring something new to the table because from our perspective as storytellers, it’s not compelling for us to do a literal translation,” Anthony Russo told Collider, noting that music will “certainly be a part” of the production.
“We’ve already done that with our Marvel films. We don’t do literal translations of the comics because we feel like if you want that story, you can go read that story. We’re going to give you a different story. I think we’ll do something that’s in the vein of the original and inspired by it, but we also bring some new elements to the table.”
In the absence of any casting news, fans have already selected everyone from Hudson and Ariana Grande to Amber Riley and Chris Hemsworth to round out the cast.
And on the heels of her new antiquity-themed music video, may we also say that Lizzo has major muse potential?