Written by Back in September 2021, we learned the thrilling news that a She-Ra Live-Action Series was in the works at Amazon Studios.
Then in May 2022, it still felt like the She-Ra series was moving along when it was reported that Nicole Kassell was tapped to executive produce and direct the pilot episode. But then, this story went cold, leaving fans wondering if a pilot episode was ever filmed… and will a She-Ra live-action series ever see the light of day.
Well now, October 2024 we finally have a new update. Variety is reporting that Heidi Schreck (best known for her writing on other series like “Billions” and “The Good Wife”) has joined the project as a writer and an executive producer.
Per Variety:
"The live-action “She-Ra” series in development at Amazon MGM Studios has found its writer. "Variety has learned exclusively that Heidi Schreck has joined the project as writer and executive producer. It was previously reported that Nicole Kassell is attached to direct and executive produce. Robin Sweet will also executive produce, along with DreamWorks Animation."
For anyone wondering if the new live action series in development will be connected to the 2018 Netflix series “She-Ra and the Princesses of Power“, it will not, but rather be a standalone series.
Again, per Variety:
"DreamWorks recently produced the Netflix animated series “She-Ra and the Princesses of Power.” However, the live-action version will be a new, standalone story and will not be connected to the animated show. Amazon MGM Studios will produce"
The She-Ra live-action series still lives Masters of the Universe fans! It is time to celebrate!
We’ll see you next time!
I so hope the MOTU and POP movies are done great! Can’t wait to watch with my kiddos!
@bearddadrip I will be watching this with my family too. Masters of the Universe revolution was a family event for us and we dressed up and had themed cupcakes. It was a great time and we will do the same for She-Ra when it comes out. I hope they will release the episodes all at once so we can make it a whole day event!
I am hopeful but cautious..
There are no story details not even a synopsis? I wonder what this is going to be like.
Will be hard to top She-Ra 2018, tough I am glad it was not flat out cancelled!
After all this time and they are hiring a writer now means they must have fired the first writer because what they had was crap.
That does not mean the new writer will be any better either. Case in point: Sony is forging ahead with the Masters of the Universe script that Netflix passed on. I do not have high hopes for this.
They’ll probably cast someone like Amy Shumer as She-Ra.
She is best known for a “What the Constitution Means to Me". I’d rather have a showrunner that is all about fun entertainment first than trying to get in messages. I don’t have high hopes based on this and past rumors.
THE MESSSAGE!
Ugh with the negativity and the “oh no, women!”🙄
We know literally nothing about this yet.
If they manage to pull it off, I’ll watch it!
The more MOTU and PoP, the more better!
Some of us are familiar with the treatment that Netflix passed on, which is what Amazon picked up. So unless the change in writer includes a completely new treatment, it is not good news. More is not better if it is Riverdale.
I mean, what do I know, but She-Ra would be lucky if it becomes as successful as Riverdale. But yeah, familiar chorus, “if it’s not for me and middle aged dudes, it should not exist!” Never mind She-Ra was invented for girls.
Not much, apparently.
I proudly walked the Barbie aisle of Toys ‘R’ Us to purchase every Princess of Power doll, fashion, and playset in the 1980s. That it is marketed toward girls has never been a problem for me. So your “middle-aged dudes" card is declined, along with any other rhetorical straw men you may be shopping today or any other day.
The issue is not with Princess of Power being as successful as Riverdale, it is with it literally being reimagined as a teenage drama set in an American high school like Riverdale.
This is being reported as a “She-Ra" series, because of the brand recognition, but the actual series does not have She-Ra in it. It is about Adora trying to navigate high school while being distracted by mysterious dreams that she used to be a heroine in another life.
So no, an Adora series that is “She-Ra" in name only should not exist. I hope this helps.
@adam_prince-of-eternia Sometimes surprising things can happen when reinventing stuff completely. Smallville reinvented the Superman Mythos as a teen soap, it was beloved and ran forever. Clark never wore a costume (until the final scene).
What I meant with for girls is that teen drama can be very appealing to girls, (the original target audience for She-Ra), even though it’s not appealing to you. Of course, you seem to be a very important arbiter.
It does not have to be appealing to you. Maybe you’d be denying others a show they could really like. Which could carry the brand further.
Stuff changes when it goes into production, too. I just find your negativity disappointing.
Of course everyone thinks they are right, and know better than all the other fans.
Smallville was set before Clark became Superman. Of course, he did not wear the cosutme until the final episode. However, Clark was still Kal-El, the last son of Krypton, who was found and adopted by Jonathan and Martha Kent, and raised in Smalliville. He was still romantically interested in Lana Lang and Lois Lane, and friends with both Pete Ross and Jimmy Olsen. He still has a cousin, Kara Zor-El, and his antagonist is still Lex Luthor. Need I go on?
Now, strip away all of that, and have Clark Kent be a high school student, not in Smallville, with a completely different cast of supporting characters, and no super powers. Market the series as “Superman," even though the only allusion to the intellectual property is the occasional mysterious dream that Clark was a hero in another life, that he is distracted thinking about while his friends are discussing their interpersonal relationships. And that would be this She-Ra series.
If you think that is a formula for success that will “carry the brand further" instead of running it off in a ditch, then I definitely know better than you do. If that makes me the arbiter, then I will gladly hold the title.
@adam_prince-of-eternia Are we really at the point of “I know better than you?” Everyone thinks they’re an arbiter. 🙄
I guess we shall see if this show will happen, and if it will happen exactly like you say. Stuff can change, surprises happen, I have hope, some people don’t. It’s unfortunate.
K I’m done here.
We were at that point on the first page when you were attempting to chastise people with first-hand knowledge of the treatment that you, yourself, have not read. So yeah, I think you are done here.
As I stated in my first post in this thread, unless the new writer is writing a new treatment, then there is not much hope for this.
@adam_prince-of-eternia … so you say yourself, it could be completely rewritten 🤡 So what’s there to fight about?
So much can change. And yeah, we might not like it. It might actually be for teen girls. Or it could morph into something really fun for everyone!
Perhaps you remember the ****storms during SPoPs, MOTU:R, etc ? You’re that dude now. Very unappealing. Don’t be that dude!
You want a gold star for knowing an early treatment ? Here ya go ⭐️ Now you can dial down the arrogance.
Enjoy your evening 😘
For the Honor of Grayskull!
The difference is that the outrage regarding Masters of the Universe: Revelation and She-Ra and the Princesses of Power was manufactured by content creators for engagement, by people who are not familiar with either property, and who had not actually viewed either series.
With the She-Ra series at Amazon, the call is coming from inside the house, from lifelong fans who have first-hand knowledge of the treatment.
You wanted so badly to be able to dismiss any criticism of the project by categorizing the critic as a rightwing reactionary, and it blew up in your face. And instead of exercising some humility and self-reflection, you are doubling-down to try and save face. If you think that is going to be an effective strategy, I do not think you are going to be successful.
I would be perfectly fine if it became like Riverdale. That show was fun and made Archie relevant again.
@therealbatman How can what I assume is a fan of MOTU/POP even remotely think that’s a good idea?
Glad it’s still being developed, bummed that it probably won’t be something that sees the light of day until like 2026 or 2027. None of us are getting any younger and these developing live-action projects are taking an eternity.
Reading over her Wiki just leaves me with a massive “why?" questionmark. She does not strike me as someone that cares for the MOTU/POP universe or even knows of it besides recognizable names in pop-culture.
Anyway, I hope I can say “what a great show" when it starts airing.
Yeah, this is going to be legit terrible based on what I’m seeing in the comments above. Oh well, easy skip – there’s plenty of other stuff to watch instead.
And no, more MOTU and POP is NOT always a good thing if the quality is trash.
I think most people assume it is going to be a straightforward adapatation that faithfully recreates the animated series in live action, but that is not the case. It is not Game of Thrones or House of Dragons, but Riverdale or The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina.
Netflix, who accepted the treatment for the She-Ra and the Princesses of Power animated series, rejected this treatment for the live action series, because executives did not think that it reflected a She-Ra series that would meet the expectations of fans or that anyone would actually want.
NBCUniversal has a reductive view of the property: the original was marketed toward girls in the 1980s, and girls today like Riverdale, so how do we make She-Ra like Riverdale to ape its success? And Amazon is desperate for a fantasy franchise, so they will buy any established intellectual property that does not already belong to Disney or Warner Bros.
This thing is being created by people who do not care about She-Ra, and who do not believe in She-Ra. That is why they want to change it to be like something else that is currently popular. It is just an established intellectual property they can commercially exploit.
Faithful adaption of characters looks and personalities; probably a few modern touches here and there. I do not think anyone really expects a episodic old cartoon to live action adaption. The old show could be a treasure trove of ideas and story hooks to expand upon for new ideas or maybe some barely touched old ones to dive deeper into. If they don’t care ppl will see it, ppl will feel it. And it will be as commercially exploitable as all the other soul less piggy back hip shots they did previously. They already have at least two build in fanbases that already have the eyes on them and hope for something good. With some real talented writer that knows and cares for the complete universe they might even be able to grab both. But looking at their other fantasy flagship money sink atomic furnance I am very, very careful with the amount of hope I put into it.
“I would be perfectly fine if a comic about teenage relationships in an American high school was made into a show about teenage relationships in an American high school!" Wow, groundbreaking. It is almost like there is a difference between changing the tone, and changing the property.
“But it was fun and made it relevant again!" What good does it do to make it “fun" and “relevant" if it is completely unrecognizeable? If you change everything about yourself to be popular, then you are not the same person people liked before.
“I would be perfectly fine If I get to decide what opinions are right."
Don’t pay him no mind @cosmic @therealbatman
I’m pretty confident I’m going to regret sticking my nose in, but there are positions here I just don’t understand.
First up, I’m not 100% why we’re arguing about this series being like Riverdale – the only synopsis I’ve seen of it (from the Variety article) says it’s “an epic fantasy series about an orphaned young woman who leads a revolution to save her planet from annihilation." Obviously I could have missed something somewhere saying it’s going to be about Adora in high school dreaming about being She-Ra – if so, would you mind posting a link? I’m keen to read more before making my mind up what I think.
Secondly, and probably more importantly, I don’t get why it seems to matter so much that everybody agree that a Riverdale-style She-Ra series would be a bad thing? I’ve never seen Riverdale but it sounds fun, and it ran for seven years, and it was popular, so… surely if a new She-Ra series taps into whatever made Riverdale a success, then that’s a win? And yes, no doubt it won’t be 100% faithful to the source material, but I’d wager that everyone here has a different opinion of what a faithful adaptation would look like anyway. Personally, I lean towards the sillier side of the property – the Filmation route rather than the early minicomics, for example – but I wouldn’t dream of saying that someone who wanted a grimmer and darker version of MOTU wasn’t a fan, just because they prefer a different style.
And yes, I know a version where Adora was in high school on Earth would be very different – perhaps more than a different style, perhaps a whole new beast. It probably wouldn’t be what I’d choose if I had control over the property. But I don’t, and hey, it might be fun. And if it’s not, then I can rather cleverly not watch it, and wait until another version rolls around that is more to my taste.
My best guess is if this is made for teens and the setting is Earth, only more open minded people should give it a shot. If it follows POP or SPOP formula I am worried the budget will be lacking for it to look great? There are several things that could go wrong… Do I prefer them trying over it not getting made at all? Yes, yes I do actually.
The issue with these things is appealing to what the majority of the fanbase wants, not those on the fringes. If the minority angle is the aim the quality needs to be through the roof. Nobody is taking chances at the consumer end now, there’s far too many attention demands for that. Meanwhile Netflix and Amazon cancel shows at a rate of knots!
Folks can scream ‘toxicity!’ all they like, if next to nobody watches the show because it’s too far removed from the original concept the show is dead whether it’s good, bad or middling. These shows cost hundreds of millions of dollars and also greatly affect the next project.
So in this case, a Riverdale aspect is just not a good idea. A home run is essential, studios and more importantly the majority of fans aren’t tolerating failure in the current climate.
All fair points, and I certainly agree that given the cancelfest going on at the streamers at the mo, then a series has to be both excellent and attract a large audience to survive – and even that’s probably not enough, since as you say, these things are very expensive to produce.
Where I’d counter is on the fanbase points – you say fans may choose not to watch the show because it’s too far removed from the original concept, which is true. But we don’t know what level of new audience the show might pick up if it’s taking a different route, and I’d wager that a good 95% of existing She-Ra fans would at least try the new show. Even if it’s just to hate-watch.
Basically, I reckon that if the show is going this route – and I still don’t know whether it is – I would suspect that the thinking is that to survive (and reach that next project) then the property needs to pick up new fans. Ideally, of course, without losing the old ones, which is a challenging balancing act.
My take is if ‘Riverdale’ is where we’re headed it’s for budgetary reasons, which means fans wanting fight scenes in mad locations are gonna be disappointed. And that’s probably the majority. I’m reminded of the 1987 masters movie complaints about the Earth scenes.
But I suppose what it comes down to is if the fanbase isn’t big enough to start with (if it was there’s no argument, really) the last thing you should do is take risks? Story-wise there’s very little justification for Earth scenes with She-Ra (or the upcoming MOTU movie, really).
I mean all this could be mitigated anyway by doing three episodes or whatever is needed to make the budget work. But streamers refuse to look at their own business model and we continually get 8-10 episodes stretched to breaking point that cost a fortune.
You struck the nail on the head in regards to the size of fanbase. I do not find it far-fetched to suggest the current She-Ra fanbase was small. Awareness is higher due to her relationship with He-Man, but her eighties show and her toys were no where near the success of her twin brother. Some would argue it was not a success at all. Nostalgia can alter the way we look back at things.
She-Ra’s low budget animation reboot didn’t light the world on fire either although it did excite the lgbtq community for its inclusion. Five seasons were not indicative of success. All the episodes were made at once and what used to constitute one season was broken into five. So a new iteration could be a good thing and can lead to more traditional fare if it takes off.
“Frankenstein" by Mary Shelley is one of my favourite novels and her story has been twisted in more ways then one can recall spanning from comedies to musicals. Some are surprisingly interesting takes. Some are atrociously awful. I welcome them all.
What are the delineations between subverting expectations and attempting a different take on a character?
What are the delineations between subverting expectations and attempting a different take on a character?
In my mind there’s a vast difference. So for example subverting expectations is ‘Here’s an epic battle between He-Man and Skeletor, basically continuing on from Filmation! Oh no, wait, they’re both dead!".
A different take on a given character could be Hordak in his younger years for instance, or just deciding Adam is a distraction and therefore the Royals too, and getting right into the action. So long as it’s handled with respect and dedication, nobody minds a new take.
In either scenario the fanbase needs to be respected but it’s almost always better to have a really good plot over twists that are rarely as clever as intended.