A new live-action movie of Masters of the Universe (this time entitled Grayskull) has been in the works for a long time now. The ’80s version with Dolph Lundgren, although still technically a version of it, didn’t really have much to do with the toy line of which Masters of the Universe was first created. Fans of the Mattel toy line from the early ’80s sure have been yearning for a proper, non-cheesy He-Man movie for decades now.
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The last we heard on the production side of things was that Kung Fu Panda director John Stevenson is attached to direct (which is still true) and that Justin Sparks has written a screenplay which was labeled by fellow Screen Rant writer Niall Browne as “awesome.” However, we learn today that Sparks’ screenplay in all likelihood won’t be the one used as Evan Daugherty has been brought on-board to pen a new one.
So who is Daugherty? Well, chances are you will not have heard of him since beyond an unproduced screenplay called Shrapnel (which he wrote to earn an NYU grant), he hasn’t written anything. The script did make it’s way onto the Hollywood “Black List,” but nothing has come of it as of yet.
The He-Man movie is quite the gig for him, then!
As for the direction that Warner Bros. is hoping to go in, they see “the big-screen version as a gritty fantasy and reimagines Adam as a soldier who sets off to find his destiny, happening upon the magical world of Eternia. There, Skeletor has raised a technological army and is bent on eradicating magic.”
The original ’80s Dolph Lundgren movie is probably one of the first I can ever remember watching, and it’s one I will watch anytime it pops on TV. However, it appears that WB is intending on going an entirely different, “grittier” direction with the character and I say that’s the way they have to go. The cheesy nature of the ’80s version is part of its appeal… but that just wouldn’t work nowadays.
It’s of the same nature as a lot of ’80s movies that sit firmly in many-a-movie-fan’s fond memories. With this new He-Man specifically, the cheesy nature was fine in the ’80s… but it wouldn’t be now. Not if they want to make a straight non-comedic He-Man movie.
I’m pretty sure fans of the character don’t want in to be placed in the “comedy” section of the rental store…
So who could play the legendary He-Man? Well, it’s the same dilemma as with other characters like Thor and Conan the Barbarian – just where do you get the perfect muscle-men to play these guys? I’m not sure… how ’bout Lundgren again, just for kicks…. no?
What do you think of an unknown and relatively inexperienced writer like Daugherty writing Grayskull? Who would you like to see play He-Man?
Source: THR
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18 Comments
The original movie wasn’t bad and with the jump in technology in movies maybe they could make it decent.
I enjoyed “Masters of the Universe” and would love to see a new film, just don’t cast any wrestlers.
I nominate Verne Troyer for Orko!
I think that we should have went with the other script that was already made that the web was buzzing about saying it was “awesome” Justin Marks wrote it. Why are we going with someone nobody’s ever heard of? As for who should play He-Man..? Can Sawyer from Lost lose the accent?
The original script would have been epic, this sounds stupid, a soldier that goes looking for his destiny and wanders into a magic realm called Eternia where Skeletor is raising a techo-army to eradicate magic…? Sounds like something my little sister would come up with.
Call me crazy but i think this gritty approach could actually work. They just have to be careful not to make the role too demanding on the actor as most muscle-heads cant really act.
OK OK, DO NOT CHANGE UP HE-MAN, DON’T..THEY TOOK WAY TOO MANY LIBERTIES IN THE FIRST ONE AND THIS NEW IDEA SUCKS HARD. KEEP IT IN ETERNIA, GAWD…WHY CAN’T YOU HOLLYWOOD GOOFBALLS GET IT RIGHT FOR ONCE, STOP ENTRUSTING YOUR MONEY ON THESE GUYS THAT WANT TO CHNGE EVERYTHING..WHY YOU HAVE TO BRING EARTH INTO IT …AGAIN!! THE FIRST MOVIE DID THAT..ITS STUPID..STUPID!..LEARN, DONT WALK BACKWARDS RETARDS.
AND ORKO SHOULD BE CGI..
why are you yelling?
A Gunsmith with anger issues… That’s a frightening thought..
I like that they are not going the 80s cheesy way… You are right ..NOT what we want to see on screen now…
As far as an actor to play He-man, i would love it if they used an unknown actor..a newbie…
I wonder what Skeletor will look like??
Personally this is a terrible idea, my understanding of He-Man was that Adam was the prince, son of the king and queen of Eternia, he was born there and had always lived there and was never a soldier to my knowledge, why not an origin story of sorts being thats a popular trend of late with the Batman movies starting from scratch, Ironman and Spiderman all showing the characters from inception. The gritty idea is fine but making him a soldier who comes upon a world that he’s supposed to have grown up in and come from is a poor poor spin on the story and character, why not build up the relationship and rivalry between him and Skeletor, I agree with Gunsmith minus the yelling, hollywood needs to leave well enough alone, if its not broke don’t fix it and if it was broke then the show and toy line wouldnt be as popular as it was and even a consideration for a movie if that was the case so it would obviously do fine without any new spins on it.
I think Hollywood go over board with this, because they are getting their arsses tight on their money, not to spend that much, but still insist to make a fortune.
But Hey! They have to rely that, Easter comes once a year, in order to fill their pockets with Easter baboons’.
You all have to rely people, that the producers or their executives are not playing games on you!
First off all they spend good amount on the Justin Marks script, and people at Latino reviews, considered the script as greatest ever written in this last decade.
Now Warner’s probable want this script to go into production, but the problem is who would tackle this and this movie its going to cost them over 250 Million easy, its going to be a very big risk, It could come up as the second saga as Lord of the Rings did, or a flop.
So they want to be safe on this, to be as good as the first script but les expensive.
From my point of view is all the best directors out there are way to busy, so the chances are slim to take anyone on Marks script, so they deciding instead to pay less and get an average director that can still do justice to this project.
I think they did the same thing with the current movie in production Clash of the Titans,.
They hired the best screenplay writer Kudu ,but they knew it was going to cost them much more, because it could come up as a masterpiece, instead they hired an other writer just to polish the already Kusdan script, and to be less expensive , so with 100 Million they made it less expensive and they know that. They can’t lose on this, because it’s a remake, and that was one of the best fantasy movie ever made in the 80’s.
What they did instead spending 300 Million on a movie or less, they are making 2 movies for that amount, the second been named “War of the Gods, which is the Teseus Myth fighting the Minotaur and other beasts.
At least bee happy, because we see these kind of movies coming to the big screen, even thought they got hit hard with the rescission,
They are still making the movies but with less funding on their expenses.
I would like to see Travis Fimmel as He-Man,
So this Evan Daughtey going to write the He-Man movie.
Thank You.
BRUCE ACOSTA
AUSTRALIA.
Are they using the script that Latino Review had up or that stupdi new techo-soldier one? The original was so cool, it started with the forging of the two swords the one heman has and skeletors, how cool is that. I think he should be a prince but not know it, like Skeletor killed his family or something, I dont know Prince Adam was kinda not cool, but they can make a good twist on that. I just hate the soldier-techno skeletor sounding idea, its going from LOTR epic to like Doomsday-ish. I liked Doomsdya actually, but this franchise has potential.
Jessie from Big Brother 11 should play Adam/He-Man. Young, cute, heavily muscled … but can he act?
While I’m happy updating an ’80s idea (cheesy IS bad, nowadays)), the treatment above sounds horrible! Adam needs to be Eternian, because it is THAT dynamic that makes his battles against Skeletor so powerful ( and relevant to the story), since good and evil are both vying for “soul” of the planet…a classic, yet always (if done right)fascinating approach to speculative fiction. Skeletor IS a magical being, so he MUST embrace, at least, some aspect of magic. Besides, Eternia (along with the universe established, as a whole) is techno-mystical–a wonderful blending of science fictional and fantastical elements which, along with the interesting characters, made the “Masters of the Universe” concept so popular and inspired others (”Thundercats”, etc.).
If Hollywoood simply looks to the modernized story concept embodied in the bios of the “Classics” figures coming out now, they can easily come up with an excellent, MONEY-MAKING film that could, conceivably, become a franchise.
As for the director and He-Man actor, PLEASE, make sure the director has some clue of what he’s doing (new or establishedis not the issue; idiocy is the issue), and DO NOT use a wrestler or some similarly depressing meathead. Adam and his alter ego were always portrayed (in every incarnation, including the Lundgren pic) as intelligent and clever. He-Man figures out how to defeat the bad guys; he does not simply pummel them into pudding.
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