'Hercules' Trailer: Can Dwayne Johnson Fly Solo?

Since Walt Disney’s DIS +0.08% Captain America: The Winter Soldier is opening in the UK on Wednesday and Paramount’s Noah opening in America and elsewhere this Friday, it stands to reason that the studios are tossing out their big guns, especially for the summer films that haven’t teased yet (Paramount will be dropping their Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles teaser on Thursday). So now we have this trailer to Dwayne Johnson’s Hercules. The Paramount release at least gets the first thing about trailer construction very wrong: The trailer is narrated by Ian McShane despite featuring a supporting turn from John Hurt! If your film stars John Hurt, you darn-well have John Hurt narrate your trailer! So it’s already the “worst trailer ever”. Jokes aside, it’s a brisk and relatively spoiler-free look at what audiences theoretically will want to see: Dwayne Johnson ripped beyond reason and trashing opponents of the human, animal, and monster variety in a mythical setting.

What’s interesting about this film is that we’re in a position where a big-budget major studio action-adventure film starring Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson, directed by Brett Ratner no less, is in the position of being something of an underdog this summer. It opens on July 25th, existing right between Jupiter Ascending (an obvious wildcard from the Wachowskis) and Guardians of the Galaxy. Of course, the film cost “just” $110 million, so the Brett Ratner vehicle, which will of course be released in 3D, only has to make 300: Rise of an Empire numbers ($288m and counting) to make a token profit. Such is life where a $110 million Dwayne Johnson period-piece action epic directed by Brett Ratner considered the summer time equivalent of a B-movie. For the record, as Dorothy Pomerantz correctly pointed out back in January, the critical and commercial failure of the Lionsgate pick-up The Legend of Hercules will have zero bearing on this film’s success. If a tree falls in a forest and all. What this film does signal is an attempt for Dwayne Johnson to have a new franchise of his very own.

Dwayne Johnson has become something of a running joke in terms of joining already established franchises and giving them a box office boost. Be it the Universal’s Fast/Furious films, Warner Bros.’ Journey 2: The Mysterious Island ($335m worldwide off a $79m budget), Paramount’s G.I. Joe Retaliation ($375m off a $130m budget), or even Universal’s The Mummy Returns ($433m off a $98m budget back in 2001), the man often referred to as “The Rock” has a knack for latching onto franchises that suit his sensibilities and/or his fan base and allowing them to reach new heights. But Johnson’s attempts to score solo have been mixed at best.

Aside from his now standard “hard action guy makes a PG-rated comedy around domestication and kids” entries The Tooth Fairy ($112 million worldwide in 2010) and The Game Plan ($147m in 2007), Dwayne Johnson’s biggest solo outing is still his first one, specifically the Mummy Returns spin-off The Scorpion King. People like to consider that one a flop, but in truth it earned $165m off a $60m budget back in April 2002, and adjusted for inflation would be about $275m today. After that it was several years of box office whiffs like The Rundown (a terrific action comedy, but one that earned $80m off a $85m budget), Walking Tall, and Doom. He spent the next few years as a family film lead, with the above-mentioned Tooth Fairy and Game Plan scoring alongside Gridiron Gang ($40m off a $30m budget) in 2006 along with Disney’s Escape From With Mountain ($106m worldwide) and Sony’s animated film Planet 51 ($105m, but with a $70m budget) in 2009.

His other two major films, along with the little-seen indie Southland Tales, were ones where he made a point to stand out in a crowded ensemble, with Get Smart in 2008 ($230m, but with a role guaranteed not to come back for the sequel) and the terrible Get Shorty sequel Be Cool in 2005 (where he earned strong critical notices as an openly gay bodyguard/enforcer). His next shot at action stardom came in the form of 2010′s Faster. But the R-rated picture was more drama than action, and it earned $35m on a $24m budget. After that is where we enter the period of Dwayne Johnson: Franchise Savior. Dwayne Johnson is clearly a “star” in the sense that the media loves him, everyone knows who he is, and he is a genuine added-value element to any film he makes. But Hercules will be an attempt to cash in on the three years of capitol accumulated by the likes of G.I. Joe 2 and Fast & Furious 6. Obviously the $42m gross of last year’s (very good) Snitch won’t cut it on this scale.

Hercules has nothing to offer beyond Dwayne Johnson as a somewhat iconic action hero. This is no ensemble piece or established franchise. This is Dwayne Johnson’s “face on the poster” test. Of course it’s also a chance for Brett Ratner to score a controversy-free hit after the underrated Tower Heist ($152 million off a $75m budget) was overshadowed by a foot-in-mouth comment that angered the gay community right and cost him his Oscar ceremony producing gig, but that’s for another day.

For now the question is whether or not Hercules is the movie to prove that The Rock is a movie star all by himself and/or whether or not such a movie exists. Hercules opens from Paramount on July 25th. As always, we’ll see.

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