Despite spending a reported $30 million developing the project, not even The Power of Grayskull could save Netflix’s live-action He-Man and The Masters of the Universe from being scrapped by the streamer.
According to Variety the $30 million price-tag might actually be doubled when you add the money spent on development with that used to secure West Side Story‘s Kyle Allen as the lead, and highly sought after Lost City directing duo Adam and Aaron Nee to helm the film.
Despite having two extremely popular animated series currently streaming on the site – Masters of the Universe: Revelations from Kevin Smith and the CG show He-Man and the Masters of the Universe – Netflix’s decision not to move forward with a live-action Masters of the Universe is yet another blow for Prince Adam’s chances of ever returning to the big-screen.
A spokesperson for Mattel, who are currently designing the moulds for their cinematic universe following the response to Greta Gerwig’s Barbie (read our review ★★★★ here), confirmed to Variety that He-Man is no longer at Netflix.
Budgetary reasons have been cited for the decision, with a rumoured price-tag of between $150-200 million being touted, and stories of shooting a sequel simultaneously as a cost-saving exercise emerging. But with cameras set to roll in February, Netflix has made the Skeletor-level decision to pull the plug.
The streamer acquired the rights to Masters of the Universe from Sony Pictures in 2019, who had experienced their own development hell on the project, with release date and directorial changes (Jon M. Chu, David Goyer) a common occurrence on the movie news pages.
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