Hercules Returns is a screen adaptation of the popular Australian live comedy show
Double Take, conceived and performed by Des Mangan with
Sally Patience. The
Double Take show, which began in Sydney in 1986, is part of the "dub parody" genre, similar to ''
What's Up, Tiger Lily?'', in which ostensibly serious films are deliberately re-voiced in a satirical or spoof manner. The film version came about after businessman Phil Jaroslow saw a
Double Take performance of
Hercules Returns in Melbourne. He was so impressed that he purchased the rights to both the original
Ercole film and Mangan's script, hired cinematographer and filmmaker
David Parker to help write a story to wrap around the
Double Take routine, and financed the project with his own funds. Although it was his first film as a producer and Parker's first as a director, the project came in on time and on budget at a cost of less than A$1 million, and shooting was completed in just eight days. The film was the last screen credit for veteran actor
Frank Thring (who performed the voice of
Zeus), and there are also cameo appearances by Australian film critics
David Stratton,
Margaret Pomeranz, and
Ivan Hutchinson. Mangan and Patience do not appear on screen and their voice-overs are mimed by Argue, Spence, and Coustas. ==Release==