Netflix was able to release two He-Man cartoons over the past few years, but that was considered to be a warm up for their upcoming film adaptation. Too bad for anyone looking to enter Eternia again though, because the film has reportedly been cancelled.
According to Variety, Netflix has opted to cancel their He-Man and the Masters of the Universe project after having already spent $30 million on pre-production. We don’t have any specifics as to how the film got to the cancellation point, but the issue was said to have been largely because of the budget—after all, you can’t make a sci-fi/fantasy project like He-Man without dishing out some Star Wars-level money anymore.
Originally, the movie was supposed to be directed by The Lost City helmers Aaron and Adam Nee, and Kyle Allen (The Path) was attached to play He-Man; before that, it was Black Adam star Noah Centineo who was expected to play Prince Adam.
Now Mattel is said to be looking for a new studio to take on the project. After shifting over from studios like Warner Bros. and Sony Pictures, maybe someone else would like to take on the 80s property. Who knows, maybe with all the hype surrounding the Barbie film, maybe some studio will want to jump in on He-Man while the going is good. It might go nice in Legendary’s portfolio after they wrap up Dune: Part Two later this year.
No release date has been set for He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, but you can check out several cartoon revivals including Masters of the Universe: Revelation now streaming on Netflix.
