Bumblebee’s Travis Knight in talks to direct Masters of the Universe movie

Mattel’s Masters of the Universe movie hasn’t had the easiest path, but the long-in-development project has taken a big step forward as Deadline reports that Bumblebee director Travis Knight is in final negotiations to helm the movie.

Although Deadline cautions that the deal is still coming together, the report states that Knight was the only director in the mix to give an in-person presentation, which made him the top choice for the gig. Chris Butler will rewrite the script from the previous draft penned by David Callaham, Aaron and Adam Nee. The project was previously set up at Netflix, but the streaming service scrapped the project last summer. It was later reported that the movie could find a new home at Amazon MGM Studios, and according to Deadline, they’re now in final negotiations for the rights.

Aaron and Adam Nee were previously set to write and direct the Masters of the Universe movie 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. Kyle Allen (A Haunting in Venice) was set to star in the movie as He-Man, but it’s not clear if he’s still attached.

Travis Knight made his live-action directorial debut with Bumblebee, which still stands as the best-reviewed movie in the Transformers franchise; but, perhaps more importantly to studios, it also had the lowest budget.

Knight is also the CEO of Laika, the stop-motion animation studio behind Coraline, Kubo and the Two Strings, and more. Knight is directing Wildwood for the studio, a stop-motion fantasy adventure based on the book by The Decemberists frontman Colin Meloy. It follows a young woman, Prue McKeel, and her best friend, Curtis, as they are drawn into a mystical, enchanted forest after Prue’s baby brother is kidnapped by crows.

Do you think Travis Knight would be a good fit to direct the Masters of the Universe movie?