We haven’t heard much on the He-Man movie for a while, and now we know why. In January Kung-Fu Panda director John Stevenson was hired to direct the movie under the name Masters of the Universe. Then in May Warner Bros. hired a new writer to work his magic and changed the film’s title to Greyskull. Now Variety are reporting that Warner Bros. have decided to let the project go.
Mattel and WB didn’t see eye to eye over the direction of the project and made a mutual decision to let the option lapse this month. Story revolves around He-Man, a prince who becomes a warrior battling the evil Skeletor for control of his magical homeland.
Mattel will take back the property and set it up elsewhere. The expectation is that director John Stevenson (”Kung Fu Panda”) will remain with the project, but not Silver, who is exclusive to WB.
Apparently Warner Bros. saw the movie as a “gritty fantasy”, and this could have been why they didn’t see eye to eye with Mattel. I’m just speculating but I’m going to assume Mattel would have wanted it to make it more kid friendly so they could sell more toys. That’s their whole business plan after-all. Hopefully another studio will pick it up and do it justice, because it could be quite epic if done right.
