Can you smmmmmeeeelllllllllll what The Rock is cooking?* It’s a Hercules movie directed by Brett Ratner! Dwayne Johnson is now in talks for the project, which is written by Ryan Condol (who also had a credit on the Bradley Cooper Paradise Lost movie that’s, actually, now not being made) and is an adaptation of Steve Moore’s graphic novel Hercules: The Thracian War. From the looks of it, Moore’s book is a hyper-aggressive 300-style romp through mythology, which pretty much makes sense. Considering the principals’ track records, a big stomp-y sandals-and-swords flick is the only way to go.

For Johnson, it’s a break from his current habit of hopping onto franchises — G.I. Joe, Fast and the Furious, whatever that one about a mysterious island where he rides a bee is called – mid-stream, and a chance to get all alpha male on his own initiative. If things work out, Dwayne may start to be the one birthing sequels, not starring in them for the paychecks. For Ratner, the stakes are a bit higher. He just got done being shamed off production duties for the Oscars after his “rehearsing is for fags” comment and failing to unequivocally relaunch Eddie Murphy as a movie-star in non-talking-animal flicks with Tower Heist. It’s not like he’s in dire straits, exactly: He’s made enough dough for enough people to get a few more chances. But a bounce back hit would at least allow him to say more dumb things in public for a little while longer.

*Real quickly: Apologies for the hackneyed usage of the guy’s old wrestling catchphrase in the very first sentence. I know he’s moved on as an actor, and I respect the impressive breadth and extensive evolution of his career. But, like, he’s making a Hercules movie? With Brett Ratner? Big and dumb seemed the way to go?