'Masters of the Universe' Reboot Moves to Columbia

He-Man is coming back, even though Warner Bros. couldn't seize the same opportunity to make it a couple years ago. Now Mattel is partnering with Columbia for Masters of the Universe (formerly Grayskull), officially putting this one back on the fast track.

Heat Vision Blog reports that the studio has hired Michael Finch and Alex Litvak from the new Predators reboot to fashion the script. The toys came first, followed by the TV show, followed by an embarrassing movie starring Dolph Lundgren and Frank Langella as Skeletor. Seriously, the phrase "Frank Langella as Skeletor" ought not be in the English language.

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Raiding Your Toybox Part XXIV: 'He-Man' Is Back On

The stock symbol for Mattel is MAT, and I suspect that one might be worth watching for a while. In addition to nearly doubling in value in six months, Mattel has just announced two big movie deals. The first we just mentioned a few hours ago: Barbie. And now, He-Man appears to be making a comeback.

We just reported about two weeks ago I guess that Warner Bros. was pulling up the drawbridge to the Castle Grayskull. But The Hollywood Reporter says that Mattel is in negotiations across the street at Columbia. The project first came to life a couple of years ago, but nobody could agree on what they wanted. And yet somehow the Dolph Lundgren version passed muster over 20 years ago.

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No Power of 'Grayskull': WB Drops He-Man Movie

The He-Man movie, alternately called Grayskull and Masters of the Universe, has been shelved by Warner Bros., meaning this is likely the last time I can use the photo below. It's a very sad day for me.

However, I am pretty happy that the movie's dead, or at least mostly dead. Mattel vows that it will shop for a new home, but Warners and Joel Silver couldn't reach a consensus with the toy manufacturer on the direction of the project, which had been in development for a couple of years. Mattel still has the even harder-to-imagine Hot Wheels movie set up at Warner Bros. The toy craze can, of course, be traced back to Transformers, but I think G.I. Joe kind of proved that it can't just be a familiar toy from our collective youth that sells tickets. That movie had a much stronger brand awareness, dating back half a century, and it may not be one of the top 20 grossing films of the year.

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He-Man Movie - Now Called 'Grayskull' - Gets Another New Writer

The Transformers effect has already led to a G.I. Joe movie, there will be a Thundercats movie in a couple of years, and, as you probably know, they're reintroducing He- Man with a flick called Grayskull.

The Hollywood Reporter says that Warner Bros. has changed course on Grayskull, bringing in relative newcomer Evan Daugherty to put together the latest draft for director John Stevenson (Kung Fu Panda), and this one not only reimagines the backstory of the He-Man alter ego, Prince Adam, but is also supposed to be much grittier than previous versions. It seems obvious that Warner Bros. will work with Mattel to develop a second generation toy line in conjunction with the film, which is still on the docket for 2011, but will the trend still be hot then? Will it even make it through this summer, with two toy franchises released within six weeks?

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Director John Stevenson is The Man for He-Man

Everything old is new again. The start-and-stop momentum of Masters of the Universe is starting again, with Warner Bros. and producer Joel Silver signing John Stevenson to direct, according to Variety.

Uh...John Stevenson? Yes. You're probably asking, "The same John Stevenson who co-directed Kung Fu Panda?" Yep. You nailed it. Gold star! Like all of us of a certain age, we remember the first He-Man movie, released in the late 1980s. It starred Dolph Lundgren and Oscar nominee Frank Langella, and even as a teenager, I know the movie was shit. So did Stevenson, apparently, who changed his tune about directing the relaunch when Mattel showed him the secret He-Man vault.

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