He-Man Movie Dead at Warners

Published by Jeff Leins on October 16, 2008

You might think the death of a movie based on the character He-Man is a good thing.  After Transformers and G.I. Joe, another toy franchise disaster averted, right?

Well, Latino Review has been tracking the progress of Grayskull, a script written by Justin Marks and they were extremely excited about it back in June.  The reviewer claimed it was one of the best scripts of the year and compared it to Lord of the Rings.

First I hated the idea, then I kinda liked it before I hated it again.  Then I loved it.  What a roller coaster of emotions it was, not unlike the wavering, ambiguous sexuality of the shirtless master of the universe.

But alas, the growing excitement was all for nothing.  Latino Review has a new update and it looks like Warners has passed on making a He-Man movie.  Apparently they weren’t big on the project in the first place, but two 30-something executives with heaps of nostalgia continued to push it.  WB countered with a short list of high caliber directors they’d be willing to deal with, including Doug Liman (Jumper) and Bryan Singer (Superman Returns), who both passed.  The two executives have moved on and their replacement isn’t too keen on the sword-wielding hero, so He-Man is out.

Mattel, the manufacturer of the toys, isn’t too happy and would like their property back so they can shop it around to studios who might be interested.  Who knows, He-Man may pop back up again somewhere else further down the line.

It’s probably for the best.  My arms were getting tired from holding this broadsword over my head and shouting, “By the power of Grayskull!” at strangers.  They were justifiably frightened, but I think it was the loin cloth that scared them the most.