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!"