He-Man and the Masters of the Universe remains one of the weirdest things the ’80s ever spawned. The mashup of space opera and high fantasy is completely illogical and yet perfect for eight-year-olds. Now that Sony wants to reboot it, they arguably have the perfect director on the horn with McG.
Masters of the Universe has been in the works in Hollywood for decades. Everybody from John Woo to the director of Kung Fu Panda has been attached to it at some point, and it has gone through no fewer than six writers. Yet it appears Sony has finally cracked it, or is at least close enough to a reasonably good take that they’re looking at directors.
Really, McG’s sugared-up aesthetic is the only approach that makes sense — if we’re going live-action, that is. Paul Dini has noted more than once that the producers didn’t care what the production team wrote as long as they stayed on schedule, something the writer’s room freely abused (which is why the show got so weird so fast). Besides, if nothing else, McG knows his way around an action scene, and this movie needs big, effects-heavy battles. You want somebody who can take Mossman and Snout Spout seriously enough to put them in a movie without demanding the audience respects the guy who inexplicably wears an elephant mask to a fight.
Besides, this movie will sell itself to anyone when Skeletor makes with the insults. Can we get Frank Langella back to do the voice, and can he call somebody a boob?
(Via Deadline)