McG In Talks To Direct ‘Masters Of The Universe,’ Must Still Contend With A Main Character Named “He-Man”
The wheel of fate spins. Another artist is pulled into the vortex of the always-in-the-works, never-coming-to-passMasters of the Universereboot. The cycle continues and it shall continue, even as our world turns to dust and the universe slowly stumbles toward oblivion.
In other words, another director has been roped into trying to make a newMasters of the Universehappen. This time around, that director isMcG, who is best known for directing theCharlie’s Angelsmovies andTerminator: Salvation. But don’t get too attached to this news – this property has a long history of attaching talent and losing talent and attaching talent and losing talent and…you know.
Deadlinereports that McG (human name: Joseph McGinty Nichol) is currently in talks withSonyto helm the feature version of the beloved ’80s Mattel toy line and animated series. The studio, having seen theTransformersseries fill Scrooge McDuck-sized vaults over at Paramount, surely wanst to capitalize on that same audience: grown men who can say they love a character named “He-Man” with a straight face and young kids who just like it when cool stuff goes boom. But this is no easy road.Masters of the Universealready made it to the big screen in 1987 andit’s the kind of fascinating bad movie that deserves its own column dedicated to how it came into being. And that’s the version that actually got made!
To appreciate the long history of theMasters of the Universereboot failing to come to fruition, you have to journey back into the /Film archives. In 2009,Sony Pictures acquired the rights toMasters of the Universe, hoping to get a franchise launched as soon as possible. In 2010,PredatorsscreenwritersMike FinchandAlex Litvakwere hired to pen the script, completely ditching Justin Marks' screenplay (which was described as “Lord of the RingsmeetsThe MatrixmeetsBatman Begins”). Then, in 2012, directorJon M. Chuboarded the projectand he talked about it in public often enough that it started sounding like a viable thing that could actually happen. A little over a year later, Chudropped out of the filmand new writers were hired. In 2014,a new director short-list emerged, but no one actually took the gig. A few months later,Jeff Wadlowwashired to write the screenplayand a few months after that,ThorwriterChristopher Yostreplaced him.
And that brings us to right now, with McG boarding this ever-unstable ship and working from a screenplay by…Alex Litvak and Mike Finch. Yes, the screenwriters who worked on aMasters of the Universescreenplay six years ago have contributed the latest draft. What a world!
Honestly, you can take one quick look atMasters of the Universeand understand why this thing is such a tough nut to crack. Since these characters were designed to be cool-looking toys and the animated series was designed to move those cool-looking toys, the mythology of this world is colorful and insane and bonkers and not necessarily built to sustain a feature film. Taking a character named Optimus Prime seriously is difficult – writing a speedo-wearing barbarian with a Prince Valiant haircut named “He-Man” without giggling is a titanic task. Look at how many writers have been defeated by this thing!
But we hope McG lands this job and we hope this movie actually goes before cameras. Not because we’re necessarily excited to see a newMasters of the Universe, but because we’re curious to see what this movie will look like after years of being chained to a boulder in development hell.
Plus, we really want to see if someone can topFrank Langella’s totally loony Skeletor.
