Written by It is well known in the film industry that the development of a new “Masters of the Universe” movie has had a notorious past to say the least. This project has unsuccessfully been worked on by a multitude of screenwriters, actors, directors and studios throughout the past two decades, efforts that have never produced a movie to show for it.
One of those failed attempts was in 2018 when Sony tapped David Goyer to direct a “Masters of the Universe” film as well as co-write the script along with screenwriter Lindsey Beer. That incarnation failed too, and now co-writer Lindsey Beer (while promoting the digital release of “Pet Sematary: Bloodlines”) spoke to Comicbook.com about the failed project. Lindsey went on to insist that a new “Masters of the Universe” movie needs a strong vision.
LINDSEY: “I don’t want to talk too much about (Masters of the Universe) because I don’t think it’s even at the same studio now. I just saw that Amazon has it now…at the time that I was working on it, it was Sony. I think that in general, the push and pull is that there’s a desire to make it more like a darker, superhero movie, and then there’s a desire to make it goofy. There are people with different opinions, and I just think it needs a strong vision.”
While it seemed there was a struggle to agree upon the movie’s tone, Lindsey also revealed that she was undeserving of an opinion… because she was not close to the source material. Check it out:
LINDSEY: “I don’t deserve an opinion…that was one of the rare occurrences when I took on a project and it’s not something that I grew up watching. I feel like that decision belongs to the fans, and I’m not somebody entitled to make a decision.”
Will the latest effort to make a “Masters of the Universe” film with Amazon MGM Studios (read about it HERE) produce an actual movie this time? Zoar only knows. We’ll see you next time.
I just do not understand why this is so hard to do. There are many shows and comics to pick from. All they need to do is pick one they all agree on and do it that way.
@ninadust i’m there with you, sis ♡
motu can be done well, one only need look to the sheer amount of top quality animation, comics and prose content that’s out there. it has been adapted before in so many different mediums, so why should film be any different?
another thing, masters of the universe has such a rich mythology, every bit as expansive as that of star wars or lotr in terms of characters, events, place names etc. i love barbie and i always will but you know, barbie doesn’t REALLY have lore like motu does and yet they STILL made a billion dollar success out of barbie. did you hear about the magic 8 ball movie in the works? that has even LESS lore than barbie. they think the 90 minutes are there in a plastic ball but apparently not in he-man ok 😭
A magic 8 ball movie is cheaper to make tho. It’s just 90 minutes of this
@he-dad 🤣 you’ve got me there, he-dad ! lol
There is not one everyone agrees on. That is the hard part.
The key is to settle that amongst themselves prior to hiring a writing and directing team.
i agree with ms. beer that the motu movie will need a strong vision in order to work. he-man needs a sam raimi or a christopher nolan, a lifelong fan of the character and universe that will bring reverence and passion to the movie. someone who will do justice to he-man and his fans.
also, i have to say that i respect her for her humility and for so graciously acknowledging that it’s the fan’s perspective/opinions matter the most. 🩷 which is another reason why the movie WILL benefit from having a fan as director.
now i am no director, but if you want this lifelong fan’s opinion, i’d personally want a more sincere and serious illiteration of he-man and his world. i wouldn’t want an modern mcu style movie, not a joss whedon or a james gunn style motu movie. i think he-man has so much more potential than that.
i’ll point to 2021’s dune as a benchmark, i feel THAT’S the direction the 21st century motu movies should take, a sprawling, dreamlike adventure that elevates the motu lore to more epic levels.(it should be noted that director denis villeneuve is also a lifelong dune fan.) i really don’t want a cgi cheese-fest with tons of 80’s music and pop culture references, i think there’s a time and a place for that but i feel in my heart masters of the universe REALLY deserves the dune/lotr treatment. my main reason for wanting a more epic movie is because we have never really seen that take on he-man before. personally, i want the franchise to evolve, mature and i think a sweeping, sword and planet space opera will provide the ideal means to expand the mythology and elevate the public’s perception of what he-man is and can be. i mean, isn’t that how we all viewed he-man when we were kids? through younger eyes, we all saw motu as this big, epic odyssey. we didn’t see the camp and corniness until we got older. i think to see masters of the universe as a grand, phantasmical, psychedelic epic would make us all fall in love with he-man, she-ra and their story all over again.
@adoralovely I am trying to imagine what a Christopher Nolan MOTU movie might look like. Nolan loves using his reoccurring themes of exploring time and reality in his movies. I am being serious when I say Nolan would probably would make another movie surrounding the Cosmic Key.
@kraken it certainly pleases me to know that i inspired such an interesting visual as an actual nolan motu movie, i’m truly flattered kraken 😊
and that’s such an insightful note you’ve made about nolan’s fascination with exploring reality and time. as we know portals/parallel worlds were a big part of the filmation canon and have since gone on to be used a TON in the various comics we’ve had over the years, so i agree with you that the cosmic key is a concept that would attract nolan
(as well as attract nostalgic fans of the 1987 movie!)
i think the cosmic key would be best introduced in a motu sequel or in a future third movie. establish the NEW movie’s setting/canon first before we start exploring the he-man multiverse.
♡
The more I think sbout it Nolan is an uncompromising artist. He would only be interested in making his vision which means another new interpretation. We had enough of those starting with the Dolph Lundgren movie.
Peter Jackson is pretty great at adapting fantasy material but I don’t know if his heart would be in it at his age.
I would try tapping a young director from the Game of Thrones series. That show was excellent and proves they have an understanding of the fantasy genre.
@kraken Matt Shakman would be great. His episodes of GoT were excellent and his work on WandaVision was so inventive given its several different time periods etc.
You had me until WandaVision. I finished that series but it didn’t leave me with a great impression.
@kraken 🤣
That’s fair enough, it wasn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but his GoT was awesome!
Well GoT was awesome to a point. I was extremely disappointed with the final season. I was one of those two million signatures that petitioned them to remake Season 8. I knew it would never happen but I still signed it. 😆
@kraken totally agree, it was a crying shame how swiftly that show feel from grace. Shakmans 2 episodes are among the best in the entire show though, they get regularly listed as contenders for best episode.
@daavid I’ll look up those two episodes and see if I can remember them. Have you been watching the prequel House of the Dragon? It’s been outstanding so far.
@kraken y"know, I watched the first episode ages ago and enjoyed it, but time and again something got in the way of my putting on the next one and eventually I just didn’t get round to it. It’s on the ever growing list of things I have to get back to!
As a fan of GoT you should get to it sooner rather than later. It made me remember why I loved GoT again and season 2 is coming this spring.
@kraken cool. I might catch up just before season 2 hits and run straight into it.
You won’t regret it!
I totally agree with you. I’d like to see a more mature oriented, darker tone to the movie, with “R" rated content.
What I fear, nonetheless, is an “adaptation for modern audiences" that would overturn many of the main lines of the 80’s cartoons.
I can’t imagine a Masters of the Universe movie with R content. Gore and sex makes a movie R. Don’t you think He-Man is more Superman than Conan? Can you imagine a Superman movie with gore and sex?
Well, violence to a certain degree, without gorefests & mindless dismemberments. About sex, I meant not so explicit, but not so puritan either! Anyway, don’t worry, it will never happen an “R" rated MOTU movie. Nowadays trend is to make most of the adaptations from books and cartoons as light as possible, to attract the largest demographic possible. Money first, immediately followed by political messaging, then if there is still place for it, artistic freedom.
I understand the trends but this source material has never had R content. To do so would be guilty of what your describing but it would be going the other direction.
I certainly agree with all of that. A new Masters of the Universe movie deserves nothing less than an Epic treatment.
I agree with that hun. Do it big or don’t do it at all and keep it animated.
I don’t think they need to reinvent the wheel with this movie. I think they are trying too hard to shake things up when a by the book movie 10-15 years ago probably could have been a hit. Now, a lot of people that grew up on MOTU have kids that are too old to really care about MOTU. They missed the boat on those families. A 200X type movie might be the way to go. It was more serious than Filmation, but not too serious.
@firefly I like the idea of a more serious movie but have you seen Thor Ragnarok? I think that movie is proof that a lighter movie can work too and still have amazing epic scenes and maybe even a little romance between He-Man and Teela. I know Valkyrie is a lesbian but we didnt know in that movie and they way she and Thor flirts is very cute. I can imagine the role of Teela being just like her.
I think Ragnarok is the perfect tone.
I concur. Fans calling for the tone of Guardians of the Galaxy always felt a bit off the bullseye for me yet Thor Ragnarok hits it. @Ninadust for the win.
I am right there with you! 🙂 Can you imagine a scene like this where He-Man is fighting off an army of rock creatures?
Ragnarok was OK, but Love and Thunder was too goofy. I think there should be some comedy relief, but not too much.
I’d actually love a movie in the same tone as Revelation.
Revelation is good too.
I would be up for that mate.
IDK if a “MOTU Feige" would be enough. Sure; have it helmed by someone that knows, likes and respects the source material should be a natural given. But if that someone is not able to shoot down suggestions/wishes from people unfamiliar with the franchise that just want to inject it with something they personally think is fancy regardless of what it does to the long term viability of the project it does not really matter who helms it.
I would not go so far to say that one needs to have grewn up with it; there are young people that became fans of even the old MOTU material after they gave it a try. If they know, like and respect it… well and have experience in such a directing job… that should be alright already.
This think the last thing we need is a MOTU Fiege. No grand plans or a universe please. We do not need someone who looks ahead. We just need someone to focus on one good movie one movie at a time. Masters of the Universe Revelation was put together buy a small group of people who had a common goal. We need a movie handled the same way.
It depends on the goal. If they want a connected movie/TV universe they indeed need one planning for that; else it would be a crash & burn like the DCEU which keept getting messier as it proceeded because too much focus on that movie now without any consideration of planning ahead or what was before if it did not meet all the expectations (most prevalent in the wishful thinking aftercredits of the DCEU vs. coherent worldbuilding aftercredits of the MCU). If they only want an one & done movie it does not matter but I do not think that is what they want. So since we want a good connected multiple movie/series spanning universe we do indeed need someone with love for the franchise and experience in such a job to helm that as the first an most important thing. And that one does indeed need a few trustworthy directors that are actual teamplayers to outline the bigger plan within which they indeed focus on their movies at a time (with the prepared planning in mind).
Screw that. I am still waiting for the Hasbro Cinematic Universe. Just pretend it is pre MCU and just make a damn good movie. All we need is one. Then we can all die happy.
@caliban until then, we at least have the hasbro comic book universe from idw a few years back. did you ever get in to those, caliban? g.i. joe, transformers and…..jem in the same universe ! 🤣
there is also the “energon" shared universe of comics from Image that started only last fall. so far it’s just tf and g.i. joe comics tho
I never read the comics. Maybe I should have. I am more a movie guy. I have been waiting for that movie universe for so long I don’t even want it now. Don’t announce it if you’re not going to make it you know what I mean?
@lurker-man I think because so many movies have been stinking in the mcu lately people are just done with shared universes bro. Can’t really blame them. Marvel ain’t like it was.
It could have ended it with Endgame on a high note with mayyyyyyyyybe that Spiderman movie (someting with Home) as a kind of aftermath/chillout movie. I have not watched most of the newer ones nor have the desire even though I love Superhero/SciFi etc movies. I get the disdain.
But its not about what direction I (or anyone here) want to them to go; its about the direction I expect them to prefer to go because if they would be happy with a single movie it would be in production now and Amazon would not stalled around all the time ’cause of MOTUs license/rights mess. And if they do a movie franchise the healthiest for that would be someone with love for and knowledge of the franchise at the helm.
@lurker-man many of us are in the same boat. Whether it’s superhero fatigue or movies being subpar(mainly bc it’s been quantity over quality)my interest has waned after endgame. If they mess up X-men and Fantastic Four that might end up being their funeral
@brasco yep, I’m in that boat too. I’ve still been watching their releases and keep waiting for the quality to start to improve. I’m hoping they can course correct now, and that might even look like a scenario where they stop releasing for a year or so in order for people to build a thirst for that content again. And in order for them to properly plan a film and not still be writing it while they’re filming!
@lurker-man i’m with you on the idea of a motu cinematic universe, l.m.
there is more than enough characters and mythos for a linear series of he-man led movies but then you bring pre-ternia and the princess of power into the mix and you realise that this ip DEMANDS expansion !
like @ninadust said it best, one really good he-man movie must be made first and from there, i’m thinking a sequel to introduce the snake-men, in which we (briefly) get a look into preternia and (briefly) explore the story he-man’s ancestors – to be revisited and expanded in a spin-off/prequel tv miniseries which sees he-ro as the protagonist.
then he-man 3 sees hordak as the main antagonist. he-man discoveries the planet etheria and along with he-man we meet she-ra, bow and glimmer. then the following summer is spent in etheria with she-ra in the lead in her standalone movie, the FIRST in a series of films to be released along side the continued big screen adventures of he-man. having she-ra’s origin and world already established in he-man 3 makes the first she-ra much easier to write because we already know her story and motivations.
(maybe even sun-man gets a tv series all his own done the line if mattel get the tv/film rights and incorporate the rulers of the sun into the motu cinematic universe like they did with the toys in the origins universe…..a girl can dream.)
Whatever happens I hope it is taken as seriously as something like LOTR and doesn’t try to get too goofy or into anyone’s political leanings. I just want classic story telling in the MOTU world.
Perhaps it’s the lack of hardship but I ponder why newer generations generally struggle to tell a good story than the generations preceeding them.
@elder I completely agree. It’s like they’re using most of the same ingredients, but their measures are way off and they can’t seem to give it time to bake properly.
@daavid i agree david, the lotr treatment is just what the doctor ordered.
large sets, practical effects (where plausible) ornate costumes and architecture, a sweeping soundtrack (music wise, a combination of space/prog rock and symphonic heavy metal – a soundscape that pays homage to he-man’s roots in the 80’s. there HAS to be a little bit of folksy/celtic-style metal heard in some scenes too, to fit mot’s fantasy elements.)
@adoralovely now you’re talking. Where can I buy tickets for this epic?
@daavid only in my dreams *sigh*
😭 but maybe someday, motu will return to the big screen one day. it’s inevitable
The most important MOTU character for me is Evil-Lyn, I can’t wait to see her in a new movie! 😀
I agree. They just need to make one really good stand-alone MotU film, and then they can start building. The reason the MCU worked (at first) was because they took the time to build said universe up.