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Warner Brothers Has Killed Grayskull and He-Man!

by Alex Billington
October 16, 2008
Source: Latino Review

A few months back we wrote about a potential He-Man movie titled Grayskull: The Masters of the Universe. It was reviewed by our friend El Mayimbe as a potential masterpiece, giving old school He-Man fans everything they'd want in a modern interpretation of the character. Although I wasn't a fan of He-Man myself, I was convinced - this seemed like a great project that could potentially be a big hit. Alas, Warner Brothers didn't think the same thing. El Mayimbe chimes in again on Latino Review reporting that Warner Brothers has killed it dead - Grayskull: The Masters of the Universe ain't going anywhere!

Mayimbe goes over a few of the reasons why it encountered so much resistance after the script drummed up a lot of buzz. Apparently the production company, Silver Pictures, gave WB a very small list of high priority directors, including Doug Liman (of Jumper) and Bryan Singer (of Superman Returns). Both Liman and Singer passed and WB didn't really like the other directors. Additionally, one of the execs at Silver Pictures who had brought this script to them left the company, which effectively killed any push that it had. Not only did the project lose its biggest supporter, but the studio didn't seem to get the idea at all.

I never read the script myself, so I can't confirm, but Mayimbe claimed that it was a "fanboy masterpiece" on the level of Lord of the Rings and Matrix combined. I trust in him enough to know that when he loves a script, it's not just his personal opinion, it truly is superb. It was written by Justin Marks, who has been referred to as one of the best screenwriters currently working. I would've liked to see He-Man get another shot, but the trends in the next few years include anime, sci-fi, and WWII movies, not fantasy. Maybe after The Hobbit and the final Harry Potter movies make billions, we'll finally get to see Grayskull.

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17 Comments

WTF? This news sucks. I was really hoping to have something replace that horrid Dolph Lundgren film. Somewhere out there is a director who wants this job. Somebody has to see how big of a franchise this could be. Hollywood sucks. I guess I should be greatful for The Dark Knight, and lower my expectations of everything that comes after it.

TCox on Oct 16, 2008

SON OF A BITCH! This was the single coolest most awesome thing I'd read at the time. Dammit, that sucks, I hope a director fanboy with balls grabs this and gets it made, maybe Robert Rodriguez or something.

Richard on Oct 16, 2008

That sucks. I wasn't a HUGE fan of the cartoon, but i thought they were ok (although I was a kid when I watched them). And the live action He-Man (Masters of the Universe) from before just didn't do it for me. I thought that maybe this would redeem that "iffy" movie. But all well nothing I can do.

clerksfan on Oct 16, 2008

Oh god. My life is over.

Tyler on Oct 16, 2008

Actually Robert Rodriguez would be cool, so he can continue his barbarian-style trend after Conan and Sonja. Sounds pretty good. Is there a way to reach him? I don't want this movie to die... I was looking forward to the power of Greyskull.

Alfredo on Oct 16, 2008

I wouldn't be surprised if Paramount or Dreamworks/Universal express interest. With the huge successes of practically every comic book flick recently released and the whopping take of "Transformers" last year in addition to the "Voltron" and "Thundercats" flicks in the pipeline, I wouldn't worry about He-Man. The flick will catch interest like wildfire! This flick has vast potential to be the next big franchise and I'm sure some suits somewhere are enthusiastic about this!

Spider on Oct 16, 2008

What has Justin Marks done to get the "one of the best screenwriters working" tag?

schizznic on Oct 17, 2008

GOOD! Hollywood needs to come up with it's own shit. Stop trying to turn everything into a fucking movie, that's gonna turn out to be crap anyway. And Dark Knight was not the greatest movie ever made!

Lefthanded on Oct 17, 2008

He-Man as Fantasy? I always thought of He-Man as precisely science-fiction. It had flying ships, rolling tank vehicles, laser guns, and was basically like a barbarian-ized STAR WARS sci-fi epic, complete with the idea that the main hero and villain both used special swords to fight each other and had abilities above and over their peers. With just a small dab of Superman added in because of the secret identity that everyone should have figured out because the hero and his wimpy alter ego look exactly the same.

SS on Oct 17, 2008

This is from the official He-Man site... sure many of you have already heard the rumors that the live-action He-Man movie is dead in the water. But He-Man.org is never one to post a rumor without some sort of verification. So to clear this up, we went straight to Mattel to hear what they have to say, and their reply helped put our fears to rest: "Mattel has long been on the forefront of entertainment between our studio partnerships on major blockbusters to DVD movies based on our own powerhouse brands like Barbie, Hot Wheels and Masters of the Universe. Our focus is to continue being a leader in the industry and exploring opportunities that will deliver break-frame entertainment and innovative products. We are committed to making films based on Masters of the Universe and collectively with Warner Bros., and remain dedicated to identifying the best and most fitting team of creative talent who will do justice to this classic property. We think it is imperative, regardless of how lengthy the process, that we partner with a team that shares our vision and brings to life the current script in a way that will satisfy even our most ardent Masters of the Universe fans." Attribution: Barry Waldo, Vice President of Worldwide Entertainment & Consumer Products, Mattel So there you have it folks! Things are still happening with the film. The world of cinema is a complex and often slow moving one. We just need to have some patience for it all to sort itself out. The power of Grayskull will prevail!

Carl on Oct 17, 2008

I think the character is too risky to make a big-budget pic about. WBhas had some trouble lately with it's potential franchises (ie. Speed Racer) and with the film industry the way the economy is they aren't that big with taking chances on $100M+ films.

Ryan on Oct 18, 2008

Holy shit!!! This news is tripe!!! It's bullshit man! WB, you guys are stupid bastards! You are no-talent douche-bags with your head up your ass! You guys work for Skeletor! You guys work for fuckin' Hordak!!! WB, I invite you to fondle my right testicle! I'm so fuckin' pissed off now...SHIT!!!

John Hooks on Oct 22, 2008

Warner Bros. You guys are fuckin’ idiots!!! I know you… I’ve worked with you in the past, and all I got to say is… You’re a bunch of pussy scallywags. You are a bunch of no-talent douche-bag nut handling fuck sticks!!! WB’s You fucks are so fucking stupid. You guys must work for fuckin’ Skeletor!!! You guys must be in cahoots with Hordak or fuckin’ King Hiss!!! I am furious over this shit! I’ve been waiting 3 years now for this piece of shit to come to light. Through the ridiculous John Woo bullshit, through the announcement of Mark’s script, and now this unforgivable act of treason. And by the way, that scum, Navid McIlhargey is an asshole for leaving! If you don’t wanna make this picture, someone else will you fucks! But in the meantime you can SUCK MY FUCKIN’ DICK!!! I’m pissed off now…FUCK!!! But He-man will still prevail in the end…BY THE POWER OF GRAYSKULL!!!

John Hooks on Oct 22, 2008

Wow Hooks, you really have the power of Grayskull running through you! I agree with you that this thing should be made! My childhood dreams are riding on it. You are frigging cool man. I dig your shit! Mannie

Mantennama on Oct 23, 2008

I'm still pissed this morning. I didn't get much sleep last night either. SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO disappointed. I can't deal with this news. It's so tripe. I'm starting to lose faith. So Skeletor wins? That's it? What kind of world is this we live in... fuck.

John Hooks on Oct 23, 2008

so stupid....if someone made this movie it would make them rich

badash138 on Jan 10, 2009

make it dark, make it scary and deep as hell, 1 movie will not suffice.

matt on Oct 22, 2009

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