He-Man and the next movie plan

He’s defeated Skeletor and his evil minions countless times, but ever since his 1987 live action incarnation, the furry jock-strapped hero He-Man found an enemy he seemingly couldn’t conquer in the frustration of Hollywood’s development executives.

He’s been trying to live down being played by Dolph Lundgren for years, and now, after a while attached to John Woo’s directing slate, he’s back to give it another shot. And with Transformers lining up as a big summer blockbuster, it was only natural that the other ‘80s toy franchises would find themselves sucked into the studio machine.

Warners and Joel Silver are hashing out a contract with toy company Mattel, which birthed the action figures and the cartoon that helped sell them by the bucketload back in the greed is good decade. Justin Marks, who seems to be attached to write every adaptation of an ‘80s videogame or series, has penned a new live-action re-invention of the story in the mould of 300, which would see He-Man as the saviour of Eternia, with the land being slowly destroyed by the evil technology of Skeletor.

There’s no word on who might be slipping into the minimalist uniform of Prince Adam, but apparently the new script will feature characters from the four different ‘toon series created through the years. We vote for Battle Cat!

The Total Film team are made up of the finest minds in all of film journalism. They are: Editor Jane Crowther, Deputy Editor Matt Maytum, Reviews Ed Matthew Leyland, News Editor Jordan Farley, and Online Editor Emily Murray. Expect exclusive news, reviews, features, and more from the team behind the smarter movie magazine.