It’s been languishing in development hell for the last nine years, but plans for a new Masters of the Universe movie are far from dead.
Having seen the project linked to various directors and writers since John Woo’s mooted involvement in 2007, Charlie’s Angels helmer McG was said to be firmly attached to the Sony project back in January 2016. Ever since, it’s all gone a bit quiet on the Eternian front.
But all is not lost, He-Man fans! Earlier this week, actor Kellan Lutz of, erm, Twilight fame, had a meeting with McG. And, well, this was his announcement:
Hey @HeManTheMovie and all MOTU fans,
Had an amazing meeting with @McGsWonderland and @ItsMaryViola talking MOTU!
ITS IN GREAT HANDS! ⚔
— Kellan Lutz (@kellanlutz) June 24, 2016
So the project is apparently still kicking. While you might think that a Twilight alum, especially one who played a sparkly vampire, is a weird choice for He-Man, his appearance in 2014’s The Legend of Hercules (above) does show that he can bulk up sufficiently if the role requires it.
Rumour is that Sony are eyeing a 2018 or even 2017 release. For anyone with a selective memory (merciful Thor I wish I did), there was of course a terrible 80s version of Masters of the Universe. Released in 1987, it starred Dolph Lundgren as He-Man, renowned theatrical actor Frank Langella as Skeletor, and featured early roles for young Courtney Cox and Robert Duncan McNeill as 80s American teenagers that the Masters encounter when they come to Earth via a budget-saving portal that sounds a lot like a cheap Yamaha synthesizer when it’s in operation. Yes, the film was bloody terrible, and not even in a so-bad-it’s-good, Power Rangers way.
The 2002 rebooted cartoon series was infinitely better, and relatively well received, finally addressing several plot-holes in the original series (HOW does nobody notice He-Man is just Prince Adam in his y-fronts?! HOW?!) and being much less of a 30-minute advert for Mattel. But, like a lot of action-oriented Cartoon Network output at the time (remember Samurai Jack and Megas XLR?), it was dropped in 2004 after only two seasons. Here’s hoping the new version takes after its more recent animated cousin.
Source: Screen Crush
Dave Bowling
Dave was born at an early age to parents of both sexes. He has been a self-confessed geek for as long as he can remember, having been raised through the 80s on a steady diet of Doctor Who, Star Trek, Red Dwarf and (sigh) Knight Rider. Throw the usual assortment of Saturday morning cartoons into the mix and we have something quite exceptional: someone with an encyclopaedic knowledge of utter tosh; a love of giant robots and spaceships fighting; and the strange desire to leap tall buildings in a single bound while wearing his underpants over his trousers. The death ray is currently in the works and one day you shall all bow to him, his giant space station and fleet of funky orange space shuttles...
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