The last couple of years have been filled with a variety of ups and downs for the new Masters of the Universe movie, but at the very least 2015 is off to a good start. It appears that a draft of the script has been completed, suggesting that the movie might actually gain some traction in the coming months.
While we actually haven't heard about the Masters of the Universe script since Kick-Ass 2 director Jeff Wadlow signed on to write it last April, this latest update comes directly from DeVon Franklin, the Senior Vice President of Production at Columbia Pictures. The executive kicked off the year by posting a caption-less image of the Masters of the Universe script on his personal Twitter account, and it seems to confirm that the He-Man movie is very much in active development at his studio:
In case you're curious, @DanMillerNY seems to be a Masters of the Universe superfan, while @RoastGobble is a podcast about the classic cartoon series.
The unfortunate news for Masters of Universe fans is that there are some big positions that need to be filled before the project can really move forward - the most important being the director's chair. Back in 2012 it was G.I. Joe: Retaliation's Jon Chu who was attached to helm the upcoming blockbuster, but he wound up walking away from the project. Early last year there were reports saying that Mike Cahill, Chris McKay, and Harald Zwart were amongst the filmmakers being considered for the gig, but there was never any official announcement about any of them actually getting the gig.
Originally based on a toyline from Mattel that was first made in the early 1980s, the story of Masters of the Universe is set on a planet called Eternia and has primarily followed the adventures of Price Adam a.k.a. He-Man. His main antagonist is the evil Skeletor. A live-action film based around the franchise was made back in 1987, starring Dolph Lundgren as He-Man and Frank Langella as Skeletor, but the movie has gone down in history as a notorious disaster.
Hopefully things will be different this time around, however, and we'll get a film that is a fun action adventure that doesn't ignore the extreme goofiness of the source material. Who do you think should direct? Who do you think should star? Tell us your thoughts in the comments section below.
