Here we go again.
Sony is in final talks with yet another pair of writers to attempt to generate a screenplay that will get their popular He-Man And The Masters Of The Universe toyline up onto the big screen.
Iron Man scripters Art Marcum and Matt Holloway are the latest to be enlisted into a task that toy company Mattel has been attempting for the better part of a decade now. Directing brothers Adam and Aaron Nee are already signed to helm the project.
Set on the planet ETernia, where magic and science seem to co-exist, He-Man is the defender of the realm against the evil Skeletor, who wishes to capture the raw power held within Castle Greyskull. The toy line was one of the most popular of the decade, with Mattel pumping out dozens of poseable action figures and accessories. The toys also spawned a popular cartoon series, which itself generated the spin-off cartoon She-Ra, Princess Of Power. A previous live action film starring Dolph Lundgren hit theaters in 1987, but failed to do much at the box office or with critics.
Warners still has the film scheduled for a release in December of this year, but that will surely change with the hiring of new writers. Look for it to be pushed back at least a year if not longer.
Marcum and Holloway will be stepping in for David Goyer, who provided a draft in late 2017 before moving on to develop Isaac Asimov’s classic Foundation trilogy novels into a mini-series. Sony had tried to get Goyer to take the helm of the project as well after director McG dropped out in favor of directing the science-fiction film Rim Of The World due out later this year.
If there is one thing that has characterized the development of this project is would be the revolving door of writers, directors and even a studio who have come and gone. Currently at Warners, the film started life as a project over at Sony. Over the years a number of creatives including John Woo, John Stevenson, Jon M Chu, Terry Rossio and Jeff Wadlow, Mike Finch and Alex Litvak, Justin Marks, Evan Daugherty, and Adam Rifkin have all worked on trying to get the franchise back up on the big screen.
