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April 11, 2010
'Masters of the Universe' screenwriters hired
Mike Finch and Alex Litvak, the duo who wrote the upcoming "Predators" reboot, have been brought aboard to pen "Masters of the Universe" for Columbia.
The studio picked up movie rights to the 1980s Mattel toy property in the fall, when Mattel and Warner Bros. parted ways after the sides couldn't agree on a creative vision.
The addition of the rising writers is the first major move on the property and signals the project is being rebuilt from the ground up. While at Warners, "Masters" went through several writers and in latter stages had John Stevenson, who co-helmed "Kung Fu Panda," attached to direct.
Getting the go-ahead to tackle any major toy-brand film can be tricky. Depending on the property, writers and directors need to get a thumbs-up from the studio, which then has to win approval from the toy company. In the case of "Masters," Mattel has story approval.
In their pitch, the scribes attempted to balance a treatment that would convince the studio it was cinematic and keep the toy company satisfied that its characters were being portrayed appropriately.
The '80s show, "He-Man and the Masters of the Universe," centered on blond warrior Prince Adam, who, after uttering the magic words "By the power of Grayskull, I have the power," turned into the heroic He-Man. He and his allies -- Battle Cat, Man-at-Arms and Orko -- defended their planet Eternia from the evil forces of Skeletor, who week after week attempted to conquer the fortress Castle Grayskull, which imbues He-Man with his powers.
Todd Black, Jason Blumenthal and Steve Tisch of Escape Artists are producing.
The Verve-repped Finch and Litvak made a splash last year with "Medieval," which jolted the spec market when it sold to New Regency for big bucks. That script scored the duo the coveted gig of writing the Robert Rodriguez-produced "Predators," helping the long-in-development sequel go from script to screen in just more than a year.
"Predators" opens July 9.
New information regarding the on-again/off-again He-Man movie reboot, Masters of the Universe, hasn’t exactly been flying at a whirlwind pace. In fact, the project has been in a serious state of flux over the past three years, as two directors were rumored to be attached – John Stevenson (Kung Fu Panda) and Timur Bekmambetov (Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter) – and the entire project moved from Warner Bros studios to Sony Entertainment.
Last year a Masters of the Universe script written by Justin Marks (Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun Li) was scrapped and writers Alex Livtak and Michael Finch (Predators) were brought on board by Sony to pen a new script. Writing a script for a massive project like this must take a really long time, because 15 months later, the pair still haven’t turned anything in for review.
However, in a recent interview with online magazine Crosswalk, Sony Vice President DeVon Franklin gave a quick update on the status of the He-Man script:
“One of other things I’m really excited about is we’re doing a reboot of the 1980s franchise Masters of the Universe. The He-Man franchise. Very excited about that. Should have that script very soon. I’m praying that we can start figuring out how we’re going to make it.”
“Very soon” really isn’t a lot to go on, but producer Todd Black (Seven Pounds) told us to check back in one to six months and they should have an update by then. If it does indeed take Litvak and Finch close to 20 months to write a script, then fans of the He-Man franchise will expect nothing short of a Citizen Kane-type story. Even though the film is based on a toy line, that doesn’t mean it can’t have a great story – and as we found out a couple of weeks ago with Green Lantern, a cohesive story is essential to any film, regardless of how pretty it looks onscreen.
Sony Pictures And Escape Artists Moving Ahead With A Live-Action He-Man Movie
Sony has extended its contract with film production Escape Artist through 2015 to produce and distribute a number of films, one of which is a reimagining of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe.
Here's a bit of hopeful news for all you 80's cartoon fans out there. While details are scarce, some key execs at both Sony and Escape Artist announced their continued partnership through 2015 and also announced a number of films they plan to make including a new take on He-Man.
While details were not forthcoming at this time, it's a sign that things may finally be on track for He-Man to make a triumphant return to the big screen after the less than stellar 1987 take on the character starring Dolph Lundgren.
Prior to this announcement, the last reported details on the project back in April of 2010 were that screenwriters Mike Finch (Predators 2010) and Alex Litvak (Predators 2010, The Three Musketeers 2011) would take a stab at the firs draft of a script and that John Stevenson (Kung-Fu Panda) would direct the film.
SONY PICTURES ENTERTAINMENT EXTENDS FIRST-LOOK
NON-EXCLUSIVE PACT WITH ESCAPE ARTISTS
CULVER CITY, CA (December 13, 2011) - Sony Pictures Entertainment has extended its first-look non-exclusive deal with Escape Artists, the independently financed film and television production company headed by partners Todd Black, Jason Blumenthal, and Steve Tisch, it was announced today by Amy Pascal, co-chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment, and Doug Belgrad, president of Columbia Pictures. The three-year deal renews Sony Pictures' relationship with the company, which has been headquartered at the studio since 1998.
Recent Escape Artists films for Sony Pictures include The Pursuit of Happyness, Seven Pounds, and The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3. Among its current projects, the company is partnering with Mandate Pictures and Management 360 to produce Great Hope Springs, starring Meryl Streep, Tommy Lee Jones, and Steve Carell, which Sony Pictures will distribute with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures in North America next December.
Escape Artists has several other projects currently in development with Sony Pictures, including:
Sex Tape, with Nicholas Stoller attached to direct and Jason Segel attached to star.
A feature film adaptation of the hit 1980s television series "The Equalizer," to be written by Richard Wenk. The project is being developed with Denzel Washington in mind to star and Alex Siskind is partnered with Escape Artists to produce. Washington previously starred in Escape Artists' The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 and starred in and directed Antwone Fisher and The Great Debaters for producer Todd Black.
Masters of the Universe, based on the popular Mattel toyline, which the company is developing for Columbia Pictures.
Sony Pictures and Escape Artists have decided to continue riding the hot hand of scribe Richard Wenk ("The Equalizer"), who has been tapped to rewrite He-Man pic "Masters of the Universe."
Jon M. Chu is set to direct the live-action film based on the popular Mattel toy line.
Story follows a young prince who becomes a warrior and sets out to defeat the evil Skeletor and fulfill his destiny as He-Man.
Escape Artists' partners Todd Black, Jason Blumenthal and Steve Tisch are producing.
Alex Litvak and Mike Finch wrote the initial draft of the script, which was originally titled "Grayskull."
Pic has been in development several years, and the property was previously adapted as a 1987 live-action film starring Dolph Lundgren and Frank Langella.
Sony and Escape Artists have been high on Wenk ever since his script for mid-budget thriller "The Equalizer" prompted Sony to close Denzel Washington's deal and set an April start date for a film that could launch Washington's first franchise if it is successful. Pic is loosely based on the TV series that starred Edward Woodward, and producers are expected to settle on a director in the coming weeks.
"I was approached about doing a Masters of the Universe movie and while at first I was skeptical, I read the script and I was blown away. I had no idea what to expect but it was such a fresh, UNEXPECTED approach I was immediately intrigued. I never expected to connect on a human level to a MOTU movie but I really plugged in emotionally. That alone, got me excited to see what we could do with the property.
"MOTU is such a challenging puzzle to make into a movie that works to a contemporary audience but the script seemed to really crack it for me. I think people are really going to be surprised at the rich story we have the opportunity to tell in this world. Where you think MOTU goes left, the script goes right and it was just very clear to me this was something very special. It was never a conscious decision to do another “toy” movie but when I read this I couldn’t put it down. And I definitely couldn’t let anyone else make it but myself. It was just too much fun."
On How Wide Open He Feels The Property Is For Adaptation, And Whether Or Not The 1987 Film Is Inspiration:
"I feel like there’s a lot of room to crack open the Masters of the Universe story. We are still in our process and I think we have some great seeds planted but making one of these types of movies RIGHT takes a lot of TONAL tightroping so we’re just going to play for the next several months. Play with designs, play with the characters, try new things, maybe go too far on some things and pull back. The process is really important to find where the right line is so we can land right on it. I think that’s what can dig out the properties full potential for a cinematic rebirth.
"I don’t really think about the 80s movie when looking at this movie because the script here is so strong and so unique. I think the characters are so grounded and layered I never expected that in a Masters movie so to me it’s on a totally different level. Don’t get me wrong, I love the 80s movie for full nostalgic reasons but this script feels like it’s a totally different genre than that one."
On When He Begins Work On Masters Of The Universe:
"I can’t say exactly, but my first priority right now is still G.I. Joe: Retaliation. We are finishing the dimensionalizing of the film and I want the audience to be blown away by the 3D work we do in it so that takes a lot of my time and energy currently. It’s a lot of technical and creative stuff put together which I love. I can’t wait for people to see what we’ve done, finally!"
Thor did have a similar sense of fun to those kinds of movies. It was like Masters of the Universe, but done well!
[Laughs] I'll have to go back and watch that. They're redoing that, aren't they?
They are. Dolph Lundgren -
Said something about me?
He did, he did. Dolph Lundgren gave his stamp of approval for your playing He-Man.
I can't play He-Man, it's pretty much Thor, isn't it?
Exactly! Are you worried about that sort of thing? "Oh yeah, he's Thor so he'll be good for He-Man." Does this mean you can never play a villain or a reprehensible person?
Yeah, I'd probably have to make more of an effort to get that kind of role.
Director Jon Chu Wants Dolph Lundgren to Cameo in Masters of the Universe
Source: Getty Images Entertainment
March 18, 2013
Though there's no casting for the Masters of the Universe reboot, director Jon M. Chu is on the record as saying he wants Dolph Lundgren to cameo in the film (via Getty Images Entertainment).
“I don’t know if Dolph Lundgren is around or what he’s doing but, yeah, I think that could be some fun if we could find a way. I hope he still has the loin cloth and the long hair and everything.”
And the script version that was said to be very bad.Tom wrote:It makes it even worse too given the fact that it's going to be written by the same guy who wrote Expendables 2.
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