A Song of Ice and Fire author George R.R. Martin has a new project: he's working with Lion Forge Entertainment to produce an animated movie based on A Dozen Tough Jobs, a 1989 novella by the late writer Howard Waldrop that reimagines the 12 Labors of Hercules — where Hercules had to slay the Nemean Lion, clean the Augean Stables, capture the three-headed hellhound Cerberus, etc — as taking place in Louisiana in the 1920s. In this version, Hercules is a descendent of slaves who's just been released from prison, and he has to complete these labors in order to avoid being sent back. "From the swamps of the bayou to the gates of Hell, his journey of penance will lead to freedom…if he survives," reads the official description.
The press release describes the movie as a "gothic, magical-realist re-telling" of the classic Greek myth. This really does sound like a movie about Hercules, the guy from Greek mythology, only now he's in a world populated by "good ol’ boys, southern belles, children of ex-slaves, chain gangs, and rum-runners." And also Hades and hydras, I think. Why not?
The movie will be written by Joe R. Lansdale, who wrote the mummy-in-an-old-folks home movie Bubba Ho-Tep and the TV show Hap and Leonard, adapted from his own books. Lansdale seems like the right pick for something like this. As for the animation, it will be done by Blue Spirit, the studio that produced the Netflix show Blue Eye Samurai.
This all sounds fun enough. Why is Martin involved? Probably because he's lent his name to several projects based on the work of Howard Waldrop, with whom he was good friends. Martin has already helped produce short films based on Waldrop stories like Night of the Cooters, Mary Margaret Road-Grader, and The Ugly Chickens. Getting a full movie made is another step.
Martin is obviously a fan of Waldrop and wants to spread awareness of his work through these projects. But in case you're wondering if this is distracting Martin from working on The Winds of Winter, the long-in-coming sixth book in his Song of Ice and Fire series, I wouldn't bet on it. Martin has a platform and wants to use it to honor his late friend, but he's not going to be writing the movie himself.
That said, I'm sure Martin has had some input. He's raved before about how much he enjoyed Blue Eye Samurai, and I doubt it's pure coincidence that A Dozen Dirty Jobs is using the same animation studio.
There's no release date for A Dozen Dirty Jobs as of yet.
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