Masters Of The Universe gets new writers

It’s been years since we last heard anything concrete about a new Masters Of The Universe movie.

The first, way back in ’87, was notable mostly for Frank Langella’s scene-stealing turn as Skeletor, as well as an early appearance by Courteney Cox. And, of course, Dolph Lundgren wearing not very much.

Well, a new version of the Eternian good vs evil battle - with its hero Prince Adam, who turns into He-Man when he wields his magic scord - is currently being penned by Predators writers Mike Finch and Alex Litvak.

Columbia Pictures are the studio pulling the strings, and HeatVision report that the scribes are attempting 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”.

Back in 2008, Justin Marks wrote a screenplay for a new Masters flick that sounded pretty awesome, described as “ Lord of the Rings meets The Matrix meets Batman Begins ”.

But last September, the project was canned. No doubt the sudden emergence of sword-themed epics as en vogue is what has gotten Columbia thinking about the project again. Will they still hold Matrix and Batman up as inspiration?

The ‘80s Masters was very much a product of its time, boasting a definite Star Wars vibe - it even went so far as to steal, ahem, borrow many of the beats of John Williams’ iconic score. Then there was Skeletor recreated as a sort of Darth Vader type...

What will the new version be like? Ralph Fiennes for Skeletor, you say?