Following Netflix’s scrapping of a planned Masters Of The Universe film, Amazon is the latest studio to pick the project up and attempt to bring it to the screen.
Ever since Frank Langella’s Skeletor popped up in an early example of a post-credit sequence at the end of Masters Of The Universe all the way back in 1987 and vowed to return, some fans of Eternia’s cabal of musclebound warriors have been waiting patiently for somebody to make good on the diabolical villain’s grand claim.
That was over 30 years ago now, and in the time since, we’ve heard about all sorts of different takes on a new He-Man movie, none of which have come to fruition.
Filmmakers as esteemed as John Woo, Joel Silver, Jon M Chu and erm, McG were all at some point set to play around in Mattel’s toybox of brightly-coloured, hulking heroes and villains.
Even if a new Masters Of The Universe film somehow made it into production this year, it would be a generation since Dolph Lundgren last graced our screens as He-Man.
Still, good things come to those who wait and boy, have Masters Of The Universe fans waited. The latest failed incarnation was set up at Netflix and was eventually scrapped earlier this summer due to budget concerns after kicking around the streamer’s development offices for a few years.
However, even if a He-Man movie seems to be an impossible venture after a quarter century of failed attempts, the idea of a He-Man movie continues to look attractive to studios.
The latest player to jump into the mix is Amazon with Variety stating that the streamer is in conversation with The Lost City directors Adam and Aaron Nee to bring the script they developed at Netflix over to Amazon MGM Studios.
Kyle Allen is said to still in position to play He-Man whilst the Nee Brothers are reported to have shrunk the film’s budget from $200m to around $170m with their latest draft.
That’s still a big chunk of change but Amazon is keen on big splashy theatrical movies to relaunch its MGM brand so this could yet work out. We’ll bring you more on this one when we hear it.
In the meantime, here’s a clip from Masters Of The Universe, 1987 vintage…
