Netflix Spent $30 Million Developing A Live-Action HE-MAN Film But The Project Is Now Dead

Despite spending $30 million during development, Mattel and Netflix have decided not to move forward with a live-cation He-Man and the Masters of Universe movie.

By MarkJulian - Jul 19, 2023 11:07 AM EST

Filed Under: He-Man and the Masters of the Universe

Despite Netflix and Mattel teaming up on a number of He-Man cartoons such as Masters of the Universe: Revelation, the CGI He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, and She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, the streamer and toy company have decided not to move forward with plans for a live-action He-Man and the Masters of the Universe film.

Per Variety, the live-action project is officially dead at Netflix, despite the streamer spending $30 million on development.

The project was first announced in 2017 and came nearly a decade after a live-action film was in development at Sony Pictures.

Sony's film had Jon M. Chu set to direct from a script written by Justin Marks. Ultimately, the project stalled out due to creative differences.

Once Netflix entered the picture, the steamer secured Noah Centineo (Adam Smasher in Black Adam) the muscular, tiger-riding hero. He would be attached to the project for a number of years before scheduling conflicts saw him depart the role. Kyle Allen (The In Between, The Path, West Side Story) was subsequently selected as his replacement.

Variety notes that the bulk of the development costs were spent on keeping Allen attached to the project during its long development, along with directors Adam and Aaron Nee (The Last Romantic).

Mattel is said to now be looking to shop the live-action adaptation of Prince Adam of Eternia to other studios.

The Nee brothers reportedly wanted a $180 million budget for their project however, Netflix was unwilling to commit to such a high cost as they recently shed a bunch of subscribers earlier this year and lost approximately $50 billion in value after stock prices plunged. Prior to the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strike, cameras were slated to begin rolling February 2024.

In the fallout, Mattel CEO Ynon Kreiz is already marketing the project to other studios as he recently told the New Yorker, "It's as big as Marvel and DC. It's hundreds of pages of characters and sorcerers and vehicles and weaponry, you name it. And then you flip through the pages, and here's a movie, and here's a movie, and here's a TV show. . . . it's endless!"

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81 Comments

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ObserverIO - 7/19/2023, 11:40 AM

Good, this should be a big screen movie. Taken deadly seriously but with a lighter touches here and there.

Blergh - 7/19/2023, 12:02 PM

@ObserverIO - it doesn’t even need to be serious. It could be campy for all I care. It’s not that hard to come up with a solid story for the character.

Whoelsebutkevin - 7/19/2023, 12:17 PM

@ObserverIO - Maybe like The Last Samurai vibes.

SethBullock - 7/19/2023, 12:37 PM

@ObserverIO - We already had a (Lundgren's) Masters of The Universe movie reboot with a big budget, serious tone and lighter tones here and there, it was Kenneth Branagh's Thor.

The1st - 7/19/2023, 4:04 PM

@ObserverIO - Which they don't know how to do apparently, but yeah... I want ThunderCats, but it's the same issue. If Gunn did WildCats I'd be Thanos level content, but that's a big ask. Hollywood is clearly a slave to their own tropes sadly.

The1st - 7/19/2023, 4:06 PM

@SethBullock - Yup, and total divergence after he left. There are still some projects Hollywood just can't wrap their heads around. I don't have high hopes for Red Sonja either, and who knows what MK II, II, will be.

They just keep doing this to the fans...

DocSpock - 7/19/2023, 11:41 AM

ROFL!!

I spent 15$ on an overpriced bacon cheeseburger yesterday.

It too is gone, but at least I got to enjoy it.

iceballsreborn - 7/19/2023, 11:42 AM

noah and kyle were crap choices for he-man. but evern with the best choice (young mike o hearn) unless this was the greatest story ever told, current cinema goers wouldnt have bought this kinda movie

as for CEO mattel, he is dillusional about he man. i watched them as a kid.. has anyone watched them recently? theres barely anuything that happens. there is no great universe of characters and stories.

tluciotti74 - 7/19/2023, 12:20 PM

@iceballsreborn - he was probably referring to the comics/graphic novels when he said "It's as big as Marvel and DC. It's hundreds of pages of characters and sorcerers and vehicles and weaponry, you name it. And then you flip through the pages, and here's a movie, and here's a movie, and here's a TV show. . . . it's endless!"

Batmangina - 7/19/2023, 11:45 AM

Dolph Lundgren as Old Man He-Man or [frick] THIS MOVIE

Se4M4NSt4ine - 7/19/2023, 11:47 AM

I’ve always fancied Hemsworth to play a live action He-Man.

AscendedExtra - 7/19/2023, 11:59 AM

@Se4M4NSt4ine - I like him, but this would be too similar to Thor.

99OPTIMISTPRIME - 7/19/2023, 11:51 AM

Yeah the industry has to learn how to make projects cheaper, and pay the actors & writers more. Also, maybe put out less expensive content. He-man was popular a LONG time ago. Rebooting old franchises, has often proven, to not be worth it.

micvalpro - 7/19/2023, 11:51 AM

He-Man shouldn’t be so hard to make. The formula is there to take and make it even better.

santoanderson - 7/19/2023, 11:54 AM

$30 million is like 1/3 of a Batgirl movie.

mdwilliamson24 - 7/19/2023, 11:57 AM

Now focus on Conan the Barbarian ffs.

AscendedExtra - 7/19/2023, 11:58 AM

A MotU movie shouldn't be that hard to make. John Cena is right there. Find a kid that looks kinda like him as a teenager to play Adam. Cast Eva Green as Evil-Lyn and Willem Dafoe as Skeletor and we're golden.

jst5 - 7/19/2023, 6:32 PM

@AscendedExtra - John Cena as He Man?You really must want a He Man movie to tank!Just so everyone understands who is too young to know it...He Man was actually created as a pretty dark and serious thing.... Filmation made it more light in nature for kids.

AnthonyVonGeek - 7/19/2023, 12:00 PM

Alan Ritchson would make a perfect He-Man.

drbong - 7/20/2023, 5:44 AM

@AnthonyVonGeek - this man is old and annoying—-Adam is young as hell! Richardson is a born again who doesn’t stop pretending to be a preacher on the internet…
Be whatever religion you want pray to the Flying Spaghetti Monster if you want but do not be pushing your beliefs on others ever!

Forthas - 7/19/2023, 12:03 PM

They should have cast Brock O'Hurn as He-man

...or Conan!

Odin - 7/19/2023, 1:10 PM

@Forthas - I don't really know the guy, but in that pic, he looks like a buffed Obi-Wan Kenobi.

HulkisHoly - 7/19/2023, 3:10 PM

@Odin -

I thought it was roided out Jared Leto

Forthas - 7/19/2023, 3:28 PM

@Odin -

Blergh - 7/19/2023, 12:07 PM

At this point I don’t quite know what to say about Netflix.

They manage to sink 250M into fast-tracking “Red Notice” by over paying its stars and forcing their crew to crunch the sh”t out of the project but fail at coming up with a cost effective sci-fi opera?
The 15M would have been enough to make a fun but campy He-Man flick but it’s all wasted now.
Their Power Rangers special was such a success not because of its production values (not that you’d actually get to see any of these given the crunch and short time creatives get to develop these movies) but because it was a fun throwback with some cheap-ass filmmaking. It still had the charme, which is what it’s all about.

Get a sound stage, set hands and a cheap cast and I’ll shoot you that movie for 5M.

These 15M are more than most Blumhouse pictures cost

slickrickdesigns - 7/19/2023, 12:07 PM

This could be a great franchise to start up but I think they don’t know what their audience would be with these characters.

ObserverIO - 7/19/2023, 1:59 PM

@slickrickdesigns - With a project this big it's best not to have a specific demographic but just to tailor it to a massive worldwide audience.

Although having said that I always thought MOTU would benefit from a more adult tone and more graphic content, but then they wouldn't spend as much on it. So maybe just push the rating as far as it can go but still make it appealing to everyone.

WEAPONXOXOXO - 7/19/2023, 12:08 PM

Well the leaked footage was HORRIBLE!

AmySabadini - 7/19/2023, 12:22 PM

@WEAPONXOXOXO - Nobody puts Skeletor in a corner.

slickrickdesigns - 7/19/2023, 2:08 PM

@WEAPONXOXOXO - lmfao 🤣

TheShape9859 - 7/19/2023, 12:18 PM

ATOM Smasher...not Adam Smasher. Damn man...

Dingus - 7/19/2023, 12:29 PM

@TheShape9859 - You look like a cut of [frick]able meat

WruceBayne - 7/19/2023, 12:19 PM

He-Man was pure masculinity and they don’t know how to weave that into today’s society

AmySabadini - 7/19/2023, 12:24 PM

@WruceBayne -

WruceBayne - 7/19/2023, 12:32 PM

@AmySabadini - 100%. How would you describe him?

Deckacards - 7/19/2023, 12:34 PM

@WruceBayne - Exactly this. I would bet that the "creative differences" - if what we've heard of the Barbie movie is any indication at all - revolved around trying to modernize He-Man for a progressive audience. And modernizing He-Man strips him of everything that was great about the character.

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Netflix Spent $30 Million Developing A Live-Action HE-MAN Film But The Project Is Now Dead

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