New He-Man Film Gets Writers

After picking up the rights to the Mattel property last fall, Columbia Pictures have finally found writers for the new He-Man and the Masters of the Universe film in Mike Finch and Alex Litvak (Predators), according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The film has long been in development at Warner brothers, with Kung Fu Panda director John Stevenson attached, but after going through several writers, Mattel and Warner Brothers parted ways over creative differences.

Finch and Litvak are on a roll, after selling their spec script Medieval last year to New Regency and helping Robert Rodriguez get his upcoming Predators film from script to screen in just a little more than a year.

Apparently, the duo of Finch and Litvak came up with a story pitch that satisfied the both studio bosses and Mattel that the characters would be portrayed appropriately. With Finch and Litvak on as screenwriters, it signals that the project is now being rebuilt from the ground up.

He-Man and the Masters of the Universe centers on warrior Prince Adam who turns into the heroic He-Man after shouting “By the Power of Grayskull, I have the power,” who, with his allies such as Orko, Battle Cat, Man-at-Arms and She-Ra,  defend Castle Grayskull against the evil Skeletor.

He-man began with a toy line developed Mattel and spawned a wildly popular half hour animated television series by Filmation and ran first-run from 1983-85 which in turn made the toys fly off store shelves. In 1987, a live action film starring Dolph Lundgren as He-Man and Frank Langella as Skeletor was a commercial flop. In 2002, a new animated series was unveiled, along with a line of revamped action figures. The show, as well as the new toy line, only lasted one season.

No director is attached and no schedule has been announced for filming has been released.  Finch and Litvak’s latest film,  Robert Rodriguez’s Predators is due in theaters July 9.