Finally, The Rock has come back to ancient Greece.
Following the total flop of Kellan Lutz‘s outing as the legendary warrior, Dwayne Johnson and director Brett Ratner are working to ramp up excitement for their take on the great myth, which, as they tell USA Today, they hope will be the “definitive” version of a story that dates back thousands of years.
Whether it happens or not, it certainly be for want of physical effort.
Also read: ‘Hercules’ vs. ‘Hercules’: 6 Box-Office Battles Between Movies That Were Awfully Alike
According to the national newspaper, which debuted the first photos from the film, Johnson spent eight months in intense training to get his body in Herculean condition. Then, once the movie began shooting, he continued the insane training each morning.
“It’s incredible, he’s up every morning at 3:45 right on the treadmill, then it was right to the gym for hours,” the film’s producer, Beau Flynn, told USA Today. “And then it was to the makeup chair, then shooting all day in the heat. And repeat that for 90 days.”
At least he got a rest in that chair: Makeup took around two and a half hours per day, in part because they had to carefully paste real yak hair to the star’s face. Even Hercules’ beard was heroic.