1987’s Masters of the Universe may have endured as a longstanding cult favorite, but it isn’t a good movie by any means. Dolph Lundgren might’ve looked the part as He-Man in his skimpy outfit, but it wouldn’t be unfair to say that his performance was painfully lacking when it came to charisma, screen presence or any sort of noticeable acting ability.
Frank Langella, meanwhile, only agreed to play Skeletor because his son was a huge fan of the property, and you can tell that he’s having a great time chewing on the scenery, but that wasn’t enough to stop the fantasy blockbuster from bombing at the box office after failing to even recoup the $22 million budget.
Of course, because nothing with even the merest whiff of name recognition can ever be left alone for too long, a He-Man reboot has been trapped in development hell for well over a decade. Some of the names attached over the years include directors John Woo, Jon M. Chu, Jeff Wadlow, McG and writers Evan Daugherty, Terry Rossio, Christopher Yost and David S. Goyer.
The project was still in the works as recently as last year, with Noah Centineo cast in the title role under the direction of siblings Adam and Aaron Nee, with the latest draft of the screenplay hailing from Art Marcum and Marcus Holloway. Shooting was scheduled for mid-2019 and a March 2021 release date was announced, before He-Man was abruptly dropped from the schedule.
The film hasn’t been officially canceled by Sony yet, though, and the latest report claims that it’s now back in active development. Presumably, the Coronavirus pandemic has had a huge impact on He-Man‘s progress, but seeing as many big budget productions having either resumed or started over the last few months, with the majority of the pieces already in place, it shouldn’t be too difficult in theory to have it up and running again pretty quickly.
Published: Jan 15, 2021 08:16 am