Ask Barry Levine, an upstart movie producer and comic book publisher, what he is working on, and he will stare you in the eye and start peeling off his shirt. There, tattooed on his shoulder, is a large image of Hercules.
“Hercules: The Thracian Wars” is a movie project headed toward Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, but it is only one of Levine’s cinematic endeavors. In less than three years, his company, Radical Studios, has become a belle of the Hollywood ball, with movies set up at DreamWorks Studios, Walt Disney Pictures and New Regency Pictures, which is affiliated with 20th Century Fox. Scott Rudin, the Oscar-winning producer, is working with Radical to produce “Mata Hari,” the tale of a mysterious dancer and spy.
Levine, 62, with a muscled physique rare for a sexagenarian, may not be quite as radical in his business approach as he would like to think, but he is definitely one of the more colorful characters in an industry brimming with oddballs.
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