After Cannon Films attempted to create a Masters of the Universe franchise with Dolph Lundgren and Frank Langella, the initial movie would crash and burn and take the studio with it. While there would be a cult following of that film developed, a new attempt at the property is finally set in motion. Masters of the Universe will star Nicholas Galitzine (The Idea of You) as Prince Adam/He-Man and Camila Mendes (Do Revenge) as Captain Teela. The project has been in the works for quite some time with a revolving door of directors, writers, and actors, but at long last, it seems like it’s finally happening. Travis Knight (Kubo and the Two Strings) will direct from a script by Chris Butler, with initial drafts penned by David Callaham, and Aaron & Adam Nee. It was previously announced that GLOW‘s Alison Brie is set to portray Evil-Lyn in the film, and she would talk to The Hollywood Reporter about this upcoming project as she promotes her upcoming Macy’s holiday campaign. She explains how much she liked the script,
I read the script and I think it’s really clever. It has a really great take on He-Man, and Nick Galitzine is really talented. Those are the reasons I said yes.”
However, she is also excited about the prospect of playing a villain, “Actors always say that villains have the most fun, and that’s probably true. I’ve played morally compromised people but not a truly deliciously sinister evil villain. I’ve been trying to manifest playing a villain in a superhero movie, and [this is] answering that call for me.”
While the 80s show He-Man and the Masters of the Universe was a cartoon made to sell the toyline, Brie would go back to watch the show for some backstory context. “I definitely remember it being on, and I went back and started watching it again. It’s much funnier than I remember. Evil-Lyn and Skeletor have a contentious relationship,” one that she’s excited to explore onscreen, she says.
The Masters of the Universe movie was previously set up at Netflix, but the streaming service scrapped the project last summer. Aaron and Adam Nee were tapped to write and direct the project before it fell apart, reportedly due to budget issues. Netflix had already spent close to $30 million on development costs, with the budget ballooning to over $200 million. There was an attempt to bring the budget down, with the idea of shooting the movie back-to-back with a sequel in order to amortize the cost, but an agreement couldn’t be reached. The project later found a new home at Amazon MGM Studios. Masters of the Universe will be released in theaters on June 5, 2026.