El Mayimbe has a gotten his hands on a copy of Justin Marks’ He-Man screenplay, currently titled Grayskull: The Masters of the Universe. Okay, may-be the title needs a little work, but Mayimbe insists that the screenplay a “fanboy masterpiece!” Here are five things from the script that has gotten us excited to see this movie on the big screen.
1. This is not He-Man for kiddies! It’s written as a hard and edgy PG-13 film tinkering on the edge of an R-Rating. And remember, PG-13 is the new R. You can get away with so much more now-a-days, especially when set in a fantasy environment like Eternia.
2. The story is described as “Lord of the Rings meets The Matrix meets Batman Begins.” An epic battle for Eternia which begins with the origins of He-Man, Skeletor, and the Power Sword. Prince Adam has to “overcome his selfish need for revenge and realize his destiny for the greater good of his people” and “find the Sword of Light” in the hidden Castle Grayskull and “unify his kingdom.”
3. Included are Fan favorite characters Zodack, Mekanek, Man-at-armsS, Teela, Evil-Lyn, Trap-Jaw, Tri-Klops, Beast Man, Battlecat and Panthor. And best yet, Orko is no where in sight!
4. All the corniness of the animated series is completely GONE. There isn’t even a “single beat of comedic relief” in the entire script. Treat the property with realism, what a concept!
5. Grayskull is a geek’s wet dream, “the perfect marriage of Sorcery and Science fiction where in Eternia both Fantasy and Technology co-exist.” The script mixes “high tech, swords, and otherworldly creatures.” Imagine the possibilities!
I never thought I’d say this but I’m excited to see a live-action He-Man movie. It sounds like Justin Marks has done fanboys proud and has crafted a film with franchise possibilities. There is a lot A LOT more, I’ve only given you five little tidbits. Read the full script review over on LatinoReview
June 3rd, 2008 at 3:29 am
“2. The story is described as “Lord of the Rings meets The Matrix meets Batman Begins.—
Stopped reading.
June 3rd, 2008 at 5:19 am
If there’s anything I get uncontrollably geeky about, it’s He-Man. This shit ruled my childhood. With a great script, cast, team and a HUGE budget this could rock the house.
June 3rd, 2008 at 6:28 am
Peter,
I do not “remember” that “PG-13 is the new R” I just remember how often you make this funny statement. ;)
June 3rd, 2008 at 6:36 am
I forgot about “Teela” !! I wonder if he last name will be Tequila.
June 3rd, 2008 at 7:26 am
Here’s the one reason why it won’t be cool:
It’s freaking He-Man.
June 3rd, 2008 at 8:16 am
guy- HE MAN RULES!!!!!!! DONT BE SO AFRAID OF LIKING IT. NO MERMAN??????? TRAP JAW, NICE!
June 3rd, 2008 at 8:24 am
Dear Hollywood,
Please stop taking my treasured and beloved childhood memories and turning them into really terrible movies that lose lots of money.
Thanks!
June 3rd, 2008 at 9:42 am
@ J.D.
not even funny.
her name is spelled T-i-l-a and i despise her for even having her name pronounced that way! Teela is my favorite motu character and tequila is a damn disgrace to that name. her of all people too. i mean c’mon! tequila!? seriously?!
June 3rd, 2008 at 9:53 am
Do anybody realize that Panthor is not in the He-Man cartoons.
Panthor is a ThunderCat.
June 3rd, 2008 at 10:01 am
Prince Adam has to “overcome his selfish need for revenge and realize his destiny for the greater good of his people†and “find the Sword of Light†in the hidden Castle Grayskull and “unify his kingdom.â€
So I like the fact that we have a broken hero that needs to go on a journey and have said journey change him for the better. thats good story telling but that I dunno how I feel about this sword of light crap. Actually many people who liked heman didn’t know that hemans power sword was only half a sword. The other half belonged to Skeletor. One for dark one for light, combined they bring the bearer ulitmate power. This concept made it into the figure line. Skeletor had a purple sword and heman had a grey sword and you could combine the two. However in the cartoon series this concept was dropped and hemans power sword was its own unique artifact the gave heman his power and thus has been cannonized in every medium since. I remember Justin Marks stating he wanted to explore the two swords story line and with him now refering it to the sword of light its safe to assume he is. I dunno maybe its interesting thing to explore but hemans sword is iconic and changes like that screw with the mythos so I am not to happy with that bit of info. I am pleased with the fact that Marks is so far taking the right steps in adapting a kids corny cartoon until a massive dark fantasy epic. Hopefully the good news will continue
June 3rd, 2008 at 10:08 am
Could there be a small chance they won’t screw this up and
give us a good movie? I don’t know. It feels pointless to hope
even a little bit.
June 3rd, 2008 at 10:38 am
Geekapedia: Actually Panthor is from He-Man. Panthro is from Thundercats :)
Oh, and Skeletor and He-Man are still around:
http://www.myspace.com/unemployedskeletor
June 3rd, 2008 at 11:53 am
I can’t believe you list reasons why a live action He-Man might be good, while you also listed reasons as to why a live action G.I. Joe movie would be bad. I’m not a huge fan of either, so I’m no geek, but I do know He-Man is about as homosexual as The Ambiguously Gay Duo and G.I. Joe doesn’t even come close. When each were cartoons, everyone was solidly behind G.I. Joe rather than He-Man. HE’S FREAKING HE-MAN! This show was a few notches less of THUNDERCATS, and that was bad.
Unless Sam Jackson plays Skeletor this movie will bomb. Only the die hard, rabit, 15 fans of He-Man will see this crap.
June 3rd, 2008 at 12:05 pm
this film & the thor movie cannot succeed without the same level of seriousness & setting that lord of the rings had. but so far, both have indicated that they will do exactly that, so i think in the proper hands both have an excellent chance of being truly unique films.
i love the idea of a hard pg-13 for this, and i hope that they don’t rely too heavily on cg effect. practical devices can lend a certain odd/creepy factor to films like this, that is so much more fun than the cpu stuff. a good blend of both will be very cool.
i’m really curious to see how the casting breaks down, because off the top of my head i have no idea who i would see in any of these rolls - except maybe josh brolin as man-at-arms.
June 3rd, 2008 at 12:07 pm
Ahhh so many child hood memories associated with that little guy. Or may be not so little…
June 3rd, 2008 at 12:20 pm
It sounds like crap. You can’t take an awesome cartoon, remove everything they think is corny, and expect it to be the same. If anything, have it come out as a CGI film instead of a live action. I can’t imagine what pansy ass actor/actress they are going to get to play He-man, Skeletor or any of the other characters.
G.I.Joe looks horrible as a live action film … They should just stop with that and not screw with anymore of the great 80’s toons.
June 3rd, 2008 at 12:20 pm
…and in other news. There has also been talks of a live action My Little Pony written by the same guy with pretty much all of the same pluses.
June 3rd, 2008 at 12:21 pm
“Do anybody realize that Panthor is not in the He-Man cartoons.
Panthor is a ThunderCat.”
Actually, Panthor is Skeletor’s version of Battlecat, you nimrod.
I will be anticipating this, if this is movie true.
June 3rd, 2008 at 12:25 pm
I was really hoping for an R rating. We’ve already had a PG He-Man. I would guess that the fan base for He-Man would be in their late 20’s and and early 30’s, why not just take it up a notch and give us the whole show, it’s what most of us want anyway. I’m not saying that I want He-Man to skull**** Skeletor, but some unrestricted edginess is the only thing that is going to get me watch this movie.
June 3rd, 2008 at 12:27 pm
Yeah baby you go He-Man. I will surely go see that move it it comnes out. http://www.FireMe.To/udi
June 3rd, 2008 at 12:30 pm
I am supposing that no one remembers the live action He-man movie from the 80’s…
June 3rd, 2008 at 12:36 pm
Am I the only one that loved the original Masters of the Universe with Dolph Lundgren? It managed to combine an 80s icon cartoon and bring it into the real 80s! It’s like a concentrated dose of nostalgia. You can’t beat the synthesizer “key”, Gwildor, the pissed off cop, hover boards, Eternia as a real place (no CG bullshit like the new one will be), and how Beastman and the other villains were really creepy, Even Sketletor was well done. A little corny, sure, but that’s what made the 80s so great.
June 3rd, 2008 at 12:36 pm
Ya i guess nobody saw that movie or are two young to remember it.It came out in 1987 and starred dolph lundgren from rocky as he-man
June 3rd, 2008 at 12:42 pm
@ Hunter Stephenson
Don’t you know that “PG-13″ as the new “R” only applies when the film in question is something you’re looking forward too. And if the film is something that already sounds bad, then it doesn’t apply at all.
– T4 is being directed by McG and has a robot John Connor, so the statement would go “The film is going to be rated PG-13, so it’s going to suck hard.
VS.
– He-Man has been written by script-reviewers fan-boy God “Justin Marks”, so the statement would go “This going to be rated PG-13, but thats OK because PG-13 is the new rated-R.”
June 3rd, 2008 at 12:43 pm
I think He-Man is a pretty cool guy. Eh has the power of grayskull and doesn’t afraid of anything.
June 3rd, 2008 at 12:55 pm
Peter Sciretta talks about a live action He-Man movie as if it has never been done before. Well it has! Wikipedia Masters of the Universe (film). That is the original He-Man movie and it was made in 1987. It had a budget of 17 million and it kicked ass. Hell I only mildly enjoyed the tv show as a kid but I watched Masters of the Universe on VHS until the tape stopped working.
June 3rd, 2008 at 1:16 pm
That sounds like a promising script, but who will pick it up? I wonder if anyone owns the licensing rights to the franchise.
June 3rd, 2008 at 2:02 pm
needs merman, mekanek can die, replace him with man-e-faces (but ditch his acting background.)
June 3rd, 2008 at 2:13 pm
Here’s a little checklist:
1. Find episodes of the original he-man cartoon (bittorrent, I’m sure)
2. Watch said episodes
3. Realize just how bad they were
4. Realize this movie was already done once (starring Dolph Lundgren!)
5. Forget this movie
June 3rd, 2008 at 2:20 pm
After reading the full script review I say it’s a go from me but ultimately it’ll come down to directing and casting. It will definitely need to be a “go big or go home” production. I really hope they don’t half ass this.
June 3rd, 2008 at 2:35 pm
V Says:
June 3rd, 2008 at 9:53 am
Do anybody realize that Panthor is not in the He-Man cartoons.
Panthor is a ThunderCat.
Realize that you are wrong, and that panthor is skeletor’s beast on which he rides
June 3rd, 2008 at 2:51 pm
I’m Adam, Prince of Eternia, and defender of the secrets of Castle Grayskull. This is Cringer, my fearless friend. Fabulous secret powers were revealed to me the day I held aloft my sword and said “BY THE POWER OF GRAYSKULL!!!!”
Wait a minute… “fabulous” secret powers?!!? Is He-Man a gay super hero? They should totally make him gay.
June 3rd, 2008 at 2:51 pm
I like superhero movies and all, but an original script for once would be nice. Not an adaptation from an old movie or comic.
June 3rd, 2008 at 3:10 pm
A “He-man” live action film already exists! Everyone is overlooking that blatant fact. I grew up on it, remember seeing it in theaters and it was quite awesome. To have an animated cartoon I loved made into a live action film was incredible(especially with only having my other franchises made into cartoon films, i.e. GIjoe and transformers)! The make up on Skeletor was great, there was no Orko(which as a child, was saddened by) and He-man himself was played by the original Punisher, Dolph Lundgren(that’s right, Ivan from ROCKY IV).
June 3rd, 2008 at 3:42 pm
It was a great movie, and it was pretty spooky and exciting for a child. This new He-man cartoon is not as great as the original, but that opinion is subjective. If a “NEW” movie is made, I will see it out of curiosity. I just wanted to state that a live action He-man already exists, it was titled “Masters of the Universe”. You can probably find it at Bestbuy for like 8 bucks now, it was not very popular due to poor marketing budgets back then.
June 3rd, 2008 at 5:22 pm
I don’t know if any of us (those of age anyway) are overlooking the original “Masters of the Universe” flick with Dolph Lundgren (don’t forget that Frank Langella played Skeletor). But, I’m pretty sure those of us who grew up on “He-Man” and subsequently saw said Dolph flick were just about as disappointed as the first time we walked in on our parents having sex.
The only thing it had to do with “He-Man” were the names for Christ’s sake. Gwildor was an 80s Flock of Seagulls synth-wielding rip off of Orko (why rip off Orko…he blOws) and the casting, aside from Frank, sucked balls. It was a horrible movie and absolutely deserves to be remade. I remember liking it as a kid…but, then again, I WAS A KID. If I had to watch it today, aside from as slight zing of nostalgia, I’m pretty sure I’d contract SARS and die.
Forget Dolph Lundgren (unless you’re saying “I must break you”) and hope that today’s Hollywood does a better job. Granted, the word “hope” is key. Regardless, to hell with the earlier movie.
June 3rd, 2008 at 6:53 pm
a live-action He-man is gonna be cool if they adopt my version, hehehe! Its almost like the same as “Lord of the Rings meets The Matrix meets Batman Begins” but in a wider range with a gigantic proportions. I turned it into a dark fantasy and a much rational events. I was planning it to make a trilogy because the story has 2 generations. The 1st and the 1st half of the 2nd book focuses on the story of Adam/He-man from his childhood to his fall and also facts and history of Eternia. The 2nd half of the 2nd book focuses on the 2nd generation, heir to Power of He-man and the rise of his greatest enemy, Skeletor. The 3rd one is the most exciting because of the its the final chapter. hehehe! (hehehe-man! ). Anyways, I haven’t finished the first draft of the 1st book so make the goddamn movie! just make it something we haven’t seen before.
June 4th, 2008 at 2:09 pm
You know what? The fact of the matter is that they made a LIVE ACTION HE-MAN ENTITLED, “MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE”!!!
I really don’t care if you feel that it wasn’t that great…DO YOU REALLY THINK THEY WON’T DO A TERRIBLE JOB WITH THIS NEW ONE? Crap in the 80s is always 10X anything these days. Hell, I’d watch HOWARD THE DUCK over the crap they have today.
HERE’S A CLIP OF THE FIRST LIVE ACTION HE-MAN.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gefaeo_zm_0&feature=related
June 4th, 2008 at 9:32 pm
I can’t wait! This should be awesome.
June 7th, 2008 at 2:31 pm
I was reading thrtough El Mayimbe’s review and it was mentoined that Joel Silver has the rights!!! I wonder if he gives it to Watchowsky’s!!! That would be freakin awesome… although, after (as much as I hate to say it) Speed Racer bombed I dunno…
but c’mon.. give it to the Watchowsky’s and ask for a R-rated Greyskull
ps. I remember even Watchowsky’s wanted to do a Conan movie back a few years ago
July 19th, 2008 at 5:41 pm
IDEAS THAT TRAVIS FIMMEL TO PLAY HE-MAN.
Do you guys have some ideas if Travis Fimmel to play the character He-Man in this film,but the story will take place in Eternia
and the characters Trap Jaw,Mer-Man,Evil Lyn Skeletor,He-Man ,Man At Arms etc.
Some people say that Tom Selleck should play Man at Arms so if Travis Fimmel will work on A list movies in the future he will play the lead as He-Man.
Will the He-Man movie get filmed in Australia and other places around the world?.Well lets go with the flow.
Thank You.
BRUCE ACOSTA
AUSTRALIA.
August 9th, 2008 at 6:50 pm
I’ve waited for this for 25 years. I thought I was going to see this in ‘87 with the first movie, but obviously it never delivered. I have been imagining and writing my own version of a possible MOTU script, and amazingly enough it parallels Marks version. Its an amazing coincidence, and only means this has to happen. We need another kick-ass movie trilogy event like we got with LOTR. Star Wars dropped the ball, but with this script maybe MOTU will pick it back up and knock it out of the park! MAKE THIS MOVIE!!!
August 23rd, 2008 at 1:29 am
Oh, Jesus Fuck.
These are Five reasons the movie will Suck.
If you can’t be faithful to the source material, make a different movie. The “corniness” was part of the charm of the original series. I don’t want to watch another boring, unoriginal film that rips off Batman Begins and/or Lord of the Rings. I want HE-MAN, and HE-MAN isn’t Bruce WAyne, nor is he all about vengeance.
The only people would like this pile of crap are people who hate He-Man. And screw them anyway.
this movie sounds boring and unimaginative.
It’s not the 90s anymore Heroes that are driven by their WANGST and and REVENGE are so over. Get with the program and somebody fire this fanboy before he can make any more stupid scripts.