Tag: He-Man

PREDATORS Writers Have the Power of Grayskull

The one thing most people who see the trailer for the new PREDATORS film say is that it seems like a film made by the fans for the fans.  Columbia is hoping the same can be said for the new MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE film.  According to HeatVision, they have hired PREDATORS screenwriters Mike Finch and Alex Litvak to punch up the latest script based on the popular Mattel line.

The history of the new HE-MAN/MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE/GRAYSKULL film has been up and down for many years now.  Columbia picked up the rights to the property in the fall when Mattel, who has story approval, and Warner Brothers couldn’t come to an agreement on the film’s direction.  KUNG FU PANDA helmer John Stevenson was the last person attached to direct, but this looks like even that might be shaken up.

Evidently, Finch and Litvak pitched a film that rode the fence between satisfaction of the toy company and made the film company happy, as well.  Columbia seems to be scrapping everything that had previously been done on the film and plans to start over on a MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE film from scratch.

PREDATORS is set to hit theaters on July 9th.

Columbia Snags ‘He-Man’

he-man masters of the universe

Evidently, Columbia has the power.  Okay, that was lame, but, seriously, The Hollywood Reporter is claiming the feature film adaptation of ‘He-Man and the Masters of the Universe’ has found a home with Columbia.  Escape Artists is on board to produce the film, as well.  This news comes just a few weeks after it was reported Warner Brothers dropped the project due to differences on the direction of the film.

John Stevenson (‘Kung Fu Panda’), who was set to direct the film when the property was at WB, is no longer on the project.  It wouldn’t surprise anyone to learn Columbia has even hired a writer to rewrite the screenplay.  There have been several rewrites already, but the latest treatment, titled ‘Grayskull,’ comes from Justin Marks, who, unfortunately, is having a hard time getting his first screenplay produced.  Marks also worked on the long-gestating ‘Voltron’ movie, whose difficulty in getting made has, most recently, spun off into a lawsuit regarding rights holders.

There is no word yet on anything regarding the production of this new iteration of ‘He-Man,’ though expect word to come down the pipeline soon.

No ‘Masters of the Universe’ for Warner Brothers

he-man masters of the universe

It looks like we might be waiting a little longer for another ‘Masters of the Universe’ film.   According to Variety, Warner Brothers and Mattel are parting ways on the adaptation due to differences on the direction of the project.   WB and producer Joel Silver have been working on getting the film completed since 2007.

Mattel is taking back sole rights to the property, while ‘Kung Fu Panda’ director John Stevenson is still on board to helm the film.   No telling who Mattel may turn to to get the project off the ground.   They could be growing desperate, since a ‘Masters of the Universe’ re-adaptation has been in the works for a number of years.   The latest script treatment, titled ‘Grayskull,’ on the project came from Justin Marks, who has also had a script for ‘Voltron’ ending up in development hell.

While the idea of a floating property like ‘Masters of the Universe’ may seem tantalizing to some studios, there don’t appear to be any surefire, hit brands any more, unless you’re dealing with mainstay comic series, and WB and Disney seem to have those all wrapped up.   The latest branded toyline to get feature film treatment, ‘G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra,’ hasn’t hit their budget price of $175 in the states yet, though that film has grossed just over $280 worldwide.   And, while studios may be seeing dollar signs in their eyes from films like ‘Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen,’ that level of money-making is never a guarantee but more a phenomenon that goes against the rule.   Surely, Mattel won’t have any problem selling a ‘Masters of the Universe’ project to a studio, but they shouldn’t expect their doors to be knocked down.

Fantasy Cast: Who should play He-Man in ‘Grayskull’?

fantasycast

By the power of Grayskull… is it REALLY gonna happen? It seems so, but who knows? What we do know is that the 1980’s cartoon was extremely popular back then and today. It spawned a huge line of action figures and toys, the infamous cult classic live-action movie starring Dolph Lundgren in 1987, another animated series in 2002 that some even venture to call better than the original and even a video game in 2005. Now Warner Bros wants to bring the magic back, having optioned the rights and the project is undergoing multiple rewrites.

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Assuming director John Stevenson (‘Kung Fu Panda’) actually does get his chance to tackle this hot commodity, he’ll have lots of source material to pull from. The original animated series was packed full of cool characters on the planet Eternia, although it seems the new film may end up suffering one of the same drawbacks of the original live-action attempt, in that it may end up taking place on Earth, rather than Prince Adam’s planet.

That leads me to the first obstacle if casting the film… who will play Prince Adam, whom of course, becomes the powerful He-Man by summoning the powers of Grayskull, his magical castle. Obviously, “certain” people would actually wish for Dolph Lundgren to be recast, but most of us sane people find that unwarranted and unlikely. Many professional wrestlers have been thrown into the casting rumor mill along with the regular celebrity names, such as Brad Pitt. However, I find the most interesting picks are always the relative unknowns or budding stars. Personally, my vote currently goes to Josh Holloway…

Dolph Lundgren Josh Holloway He-Man

The best part of discussing Masters of the Universe, or the newly titled ‘Grayskull’ as it turns out, are the characters both good and bad. For anyone worth their salt in 80’s cartoon fandom, the arch-nemesis of He-Man MUST be in the movie… that being Skeletor. In the 1987 film, Frank Langella was oddly cast as the maniacal, evil blue bodybuilder with a skull for a head. While he was grossly miscast with terribly rendered special FX and terribly adapted, Langella still did a decent job, but who could truly pull off that role?

Skeletor Evil-Lyn Man-At-Arms Beastman Teela Trap Jaw Orco

Why stop there? How about Evil-Lyn? One of the names I’ve seen thrown about is Anne Hathaway. She’d be nice to look at and can act well enough, but is she right? Take the female element a bit further and consider who would play Teela? Heck, could you even work She-Ra into the script? Well, maybe not. How about the supporting characters? Man-at-Arms, Beastman or even Trap Jaw… although, many of these Master of the Universe characters have a difficult-to-translate-to-live-action element to them. Orco is CGI all the way!

Sure, this is a movie that’s a ways off, if it happens at all, but go ahead and play the game… it’s part of the fun! Let us know who you’d like to see in these roles. Who do you think would best fill the goldie locks and wield the mighty sword? And, as always, if you have any ideas for future Fantasy Casts, shoot us an email with your ideas. You can find all of our email addresses right here!

‘Masters of the Universe’ gets a Director!

Be honest now… how long have you REALLY been waiting for this movie to be remade? I know, it’s been a long and tedious wait. We’ve had to suffice with the original 1987 film starring Dolph Lundgren for so long. But, the wait is almost over! Warner Bros and producer Joel Silver are developing a project to do just that as we speak. How “real” is this project, you ask?

Justin Marks (Street Fighter, Hack/Slash) has already finished the script. Now the project has signed their director… John Stevenson (Kung Fu Panda) to helm this action/sci-fi/fantasy flick based on the popular animated TV show and line of action figures and toys from the Crazy 80’s.

Justin Marks penned the script, which skews more toward gritty fantasy and reimagines Adam as a soldier who sets off to find his destiny, happening upon magical world called Eternia. There, a being called Skeletor has raised a technological army and is bent on eradicating all traces of magic. — HR

[source: Hollywood Reporter]

‘He-Man’ gets a director…

Well, its being swirled by our good friends at Latino Review  that ‘Kung Fu Panda’ director John Stevenson has scored the director seat for the upcoming live action ‘He-Man Masters of the Universe’ flick. Apparently, he pitched an idea so great that Joel Silver couldn’t turn it down and has brought him on board. This excites the Hell out of me because I loved ‘He-Man’ as a kid, and I still rock ‘Masters of the Universe’ from time to time. It would be even better if they cast my boy Dolph as ‘He-Man’ again… but, that’s just wishful thinking.