The power of Greyskull hasn’t amounted to much over the last couple of decades, as studios have struggled to try and mount a live-action Masters of the Universe movie. Numerous filmmakers and potential stars to play He-Man have passed through versions of the project, but Amazon/MGM seems to have finally settled on a course of action that will stick. With Bumblebee director Travis Knight recently boarding the film, it now has a release date set for June 5th 2026.
Knight, the Laika CEO and animator behind Kubo and the Two Strings and the upcoming 2025 film Wildwood, will work from a screenplay by Chris Butler. David Callaham and Aaron and Adam Nee wrote earlier drafts.
Following the 1987 Dolph Lundgren movie released by Cannon Films that is sortof a joke, Warner Bros. tried for years to launch their own He-Man movie. Sony eventually took over, and then it landed at Netflix who did release some popular animated shows with the rights. However, a live-action film failed to happen, and Amazon took over.
Masters of the Universe is based on the popular Mattel action figure line and cartoon series from the 1980s. The story follows a young Prince Adam after he crash lands on Earth as he attempts to recover his lost magical Power Sword he’ll need to defend his home planet Eternia from the evil Skeletor. But to defeat his adversary and save Eternia, Prince Adam must become He-Man: the most legendary hero in the universe.
To me, they should ditch all of the earthbound stuff and stick to He-Man’s fight on Eternia, but we’ll see how it actually plays out.
And now the most important task: finding someone to play He-Man and Skeletor. The latter should be easy, but He-Man/Prince Adam is going to require someone with the physicality, humor, and regal good looks to pull it off. Plus he needs to be able to ride Battle Cat. Any ideas? [Deadline]
