A new Masters of the Universe movie is becoming something of a Holy Grail to fans of the franchise. What seems to be a relatively simply cast of translating the 80s cartoon into a live-action iteration is proving to be one of the most delayed projects in history, having been in development hell in various forms since at least 2004. While there has recently been new hope of the movie finally coming to fruition after being bought from Sony by Netflix, who have been embracing the franchise in animated form, the only previous live-action He-Man, Dolph Lundgren, recently shared his one issue with the costume he had to wear in the 1987 cult classic Masters of the Universe movie.
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Back in the early 80s, Mattel became one of the first companies to go down the route of devising a TV cartoon series purposely to promote a toy range. He-Man and the Masters of the Universe was the lifeblood of many kids of the 80s, and when a live-action movie arrived a few years later, it seemed certain to be a hit – so certain in fact that it included a then uncommon post-credit scene featuring Frank Langella’s Skeletor uttering the words, “I’ll be back.” However, with a big-for-the-time budget of $22 million, and a story that included very little from the cartoon series or the toy line, the movie crashed and burned with only a $17.3 million box office return.
Aquaman star Dolph Lundgren was the embodiment of He-Man in the movie, blonde and muscled and wearing not very much at all, which is something the actor has revealed was his only issue with his costume in the movie. Speaking to People about his upcoming Old Spice advertisement, he touched on his role as the Master of the Universe, and said:
“What I do remember is we shot 54 nights in a row, I think it was… We shot everything at night and my costume was the size of a stamp. Basically there was a cover in the front and a couple of straps. It was very, very cold”
Masters of the Universe Has Turned Out to Be the Hardest Movie in the Universe to Reboot
Since the 1987 movie crashed and burned, there have been numerous animated revivals and reboots, with Netflix recently boasting both Kevin Smith’s continuation of the original series and a brand new CGI version aimed at younger viewers who probably know very little about Eternia’s hero and his evil nemesis. When it comes to putting He-Man back on the big screen in a live-action format though, the franchise stands with that other staple of 80s action cartoons, Thundercats, as a movie everyone seemingly wants to see, but no one is capable of making. Whether it is budget restrictions, casting issues or disagreements about scripting and direction, Masters of the Universe has gone through it all in the last two decades.
John Woo was originally tapped to direct the new live-action adventure for He-Man in 2004, but when that could not lock in a creative direction, the rights to film moved from Warner Bros. to Sony. Since then directors such as John Stevenson, Jon M. Chu, and McG have all been linked to the film, as well as writers such as David S. Goyer, Chris Yost, and Matt Holloway, but none have stuck around for long. In January, months after lead star Noah Centineo left the project, ir was announced that Netflix had bought the rights from Sony and were moving ahead with The Nee Brothers directing and writing with David Callaham, while Kyle Allen would be taking over the role of He-Man. Filming is currently set to begin this June in New Mexico. Whether the film holds its date this time, is something not even the Power of Grayskull could help predict.
