By the power of Grayskull, WE HAVE GOOD NEWS AND BAD NEWS!!!
Masters of the Universe, an adaptation of the hit 1980s cartoon series, is finally coming to theaters on December 18, 2019. The announcement comes after a decade of the project languishing in “development hell,” where movies never get made but never stop getting reported about either.
That’s the GOOD news. The BAD news is that, as of today, the film has no director. Terminator: Salvation filmmaker McG was set to bring He-Man to life since early 2016, but according to Entertainment Weekly he is now off of the project and Sony Pictures is looking for a replacement. David Goyer (Batman Begins, Man of Steel) is writing the screenplay.
Also: Eight Unpopular Movies You Would Have LOVED in the 1980s
Anybody who grew up in the 1980s was at least somewhat aware of the cartoon series He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, a colorful and bizarre sci-fi sword-and-sorcery story about a lame princess who gets a magic sword and turns into an awesome superhero who hates shirts and pants. The show may have been a mess but it sold oodles of toys, and even though the first live-action movie adaptation – 1987’s Masters of the Universe, starring Dolph Lundgren and Frank Langella – was a disappointment, Hollywood has been trying to remake it ever since with bigger budgets and bigger directors.
McG is only the latest filmmaker to be connected with Masters of the Universe and, eventually, leave the project. Previous directors who almost made the film include John Stevenson (Kung Fu Panda), Jon M. Chu (Step Up 3D), and John Woo (Face/Off).
Eight 1980s Cartoon Shows That Should NEVER Be Movies:
Top Photo: Filmation / Mattel
William Bibbiani (everyone calls him ‘Bibbs’) is Crave’s film content editor and critic. You can hear him every week on The B-Movies Podcast and Canceled Too Soon, and watch him on the weekly YouTube series What the Flick. Follow his rantings on Twitter at @WilliamBibbiani.
Eight 1980s Cartoon Shows That Should NEVER Be Movies
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Beverly Hills Teens
Bevery Hills Teen was an animated teen soap opera about kids who were rich. Ridiculously, cartoonishly rich. That's the whole gag. Look at how much better, funnier and cooler they are because they've inherited their parents' wealth. Thanks, 1980s.
Photo: DIC Entertainment
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Denver, the Last Dinosaur
The last dinosaur has awoken, and he wears sunglasses and plays guitar and gets into wacky misadventures. Denver, the Last Dinosaur was trying so hard to create a marketable, "hip" character that it basically punched itself in the face.
Photo: World Events Productions
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Gilligan's Planet
The castaways of Gilligan's Island could build just about anything... except a boat. So this animated spin-off in which they built a wooden spaceship was just too absurd to exist. But exist it nevertheless did.
Photo: Filmation
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Laverne and Shirley in the Army
Hey, remember when Laverne and Shirley joined the army? You might, since they actually did that once in their hit sitcom, but there wasn't enough material there to justify a whole animated spin-off... even if The Fonz WAS their mechanic (and he was, he really was).
Photo: Hanna-Barbera
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Pac Man
Everyone knew that the best parts of the old Pac-Man video games were the characters and plot. So this, the first cartoon based on a video game ever, was exactly what we wanted. A weird sitcom alternate reality where Pac-Man and his Pac family routinely ate their local rivals, a gang of ghosts. Surreal and bad. Just bad.
Photo: Hanna-Barbera
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Paw Paws
Hanna-Barbera made a lot of strange choices in their long, storied, career. Paw Paws is right up there as one of the worst. It's a racially insensitive series about cute, cuddly teddy bears who are also Native American stereotypes, protecting their magical totems from evil villains. Not only should it never be a movie, but it should probably never be spoken of again.
Photo: Hanna-Barbera
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Rubik, the Amazing Cube
OH GOD WHAT IS THAT WHY WOULD THEY DO THAT
Photo: Ruby Spears
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Turbo Teen
In one of the stupidest things ever - not just tv shows, but things - a teenager transforms into a car whenever he gets warm. The transformation is kind of like An American Werewolf in London but more horrifying.
Photo: Ruby Spears
