'Masters Of The Universe' Movie Release Date Set
'Masters Of The Universe' Movie Release Date Set
The long-gestating film officially moves from Netflix to Amazon MGM Studios and secures Travis Knight as director
By the power of scheduling, I have the progress! Mattel Films’s Masters of the Universe movie has officially moved from Netflix to Amazon MGM Studios, and has been pegged for global theatrical release on June 5, 2026.
Laika President, CEO and director Travis Knight, who directed his studio’s Kubo and the Two Strings and Paramount’s Bumblebee, has officially hopped aboard, having been in “deep talks” when his involvement was first reported in mid-February. Kubo writer and ParaNorman and Missing Link director and writer Chris Butler is writing the screenplay, sprucing up initial drafts written by David Callaham and Aaron and Adam Nee, who were to direct the film as well when it was still at Netflix, with Kyle Allen the last-attached portrayer of Prince Adam aka He-Man. At this stage, the casting is back at square one, with no announced actors. Mattel Films’ Robbie Brenner, Escape Artists’ Todd Black, Jason Blumenthal, and Steve Tisch are producing.
The official synopsis has updated Prince Adam’s age that he crash-landed on Earth in his spaceship, up a year from nine to now ten years old. That crash separated him from his magical Power Sword, his only link to his home Eternia. It takes him nearly 20 years to track it down, but reclaiming it whisks him back across space to Eternia. Prince Adam must now defend his home against Skeletor and his forces. To defeat them, he must uncover the mysteries of his past, leading him to become He-Man.
A second attempt at a film adaptation of the franchise began with the 1982 toyline and Filmation animated series He-Man and the Masters of the Universe the following year has been in the works since 2007. Such travels include through studios like Warner Bros. and Sony Pictures, and numerous writers and directors like Jon M. Chu and McG. The first attempt was the 1987 film Masters of the Universe starring Dolph Lundgren as a He-Man with Prince Adam completely excised from the character, and Frank Langella as Skeletor. Four further animated series followed in the decades since the original series ended after two 65-episode seasons. This included a faithful continuation created by Kevin Smith and a CG reboot coexisting this decade. The She-Ra franchise was a spinoff of He-Man, but due to the former not wholly being owned by Mattel (instead a collaboration between Mattel and Filmation), the modern iterations have had major complications that leave acknowledgments very subtle or non-existent.
A June 2026 release date means that Masters of the Universe will release four months before the sequel to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem. The respective ‘80s-born franchises known for their toys have become increasingly linked in the past year thanks to Mutant Mayhem’s use of SlackCircus’s “Fabulous Secret Powers” version of 4 Non Blondes’s “What’s Up”, and the Turtles of Grayskull toyline announced in October and released since then.
Source: Variety