Our friend El Mayimbe over Latino Review was able to get his hands on a copy of the script for the proposed live-action He-Man movie, Grayskull: Masters of the Universe, written by the very popular, very impressive up-and-coming screenwriter Justin Marks.
El Mayimbe says of the film, “GRAYSKULL is LORD OF THE RINGS meets THE MATRIX and a little BATMAN BEGINS thrown in for good measure.” That’s some comparison right there!
More importantly, he says the script contains no campiness or cheesiness of the 1980s cartoon (and subsequent live-action movie), and no comic relief. Marks here takes the Masters of the Universe mythology seriously and his script is a hard, edgy PG-13 rating, even teetering on R. If I had to put how this sounds one way, it would be that this world of He-Man has grown with its fan base; this could be a very cool, more adult look at the world of Eternia.
The script review contains a MASSIVE description of the whole first part of the script, which paints a great picture of the tone of the movie as well as where they want to go with it. Trust me when I say, if you were a little He-Man fanatic when you were little like I was, this thing sounds absolutely incredible. Seriously, if you don’t mind knowing how things might play out at the beginning of the movie, continue reading below AND you should really, really check out the full script review over at Latino Review.
El Mayimbe also said that Grayskull takes place in Eternia and gives the origin story of He-Man, Skeletor, and the Power Sword.
GRAYSKULL is the perfect marriage of Sorcery and Science fiction where in Eternia both Fantasy and Technology co-exist. The character arc of the hero ADAM works for me because like Bruce Wayne in BATMAN BEGINS, Adam has to overcome his selfish need for revenge and realize his destiny for the greater good of his people – the fallen son of Eternia must rise to occasion and become HE-MAN.
The project was announced in May 2007 with Warner Bros. and producer Joel Silver backing it, but no casting or other news has surfaced since. At first when I heard about “He-Man” I couldn’t help but think of all the silly stuff I’ve seen and all the Robot Chicken spoofs; but man, I am impressed a ton by what I’ve read about Marks’ script. Let’s hope Warner Bros. pushes this one through, and fast!
[...] Masters of the Universe movie (geeksofdoom) [...]
[...] Posted by The Movie God | August 15th, 2008 at 4:20 pm | Trackback If you go back a little ways, there was an incredibly positive script review of Grayskull: Masters of the Universe, the new take on the ultra-nostalgic world of He-Man. If you didn’t read about the script review, I suggest you check it out (see A Glimpse Of ‘Grayskull: Masters Of The Universe’). [...]
Incase you haven’t heard…Warner Bros. has axed the He-man movie and I’m pissed off about it. Warner Bros. You guys are fuckin’ idiots!!! I know you… I’ve worked with you in the past, and all I got to say is… You’re a bunch of pussy scallywags. You are a bunch of no-talent douche-bag nut handling fuck sticks!!! WB’s You fucks are so fucking stupid. You guys must work for fuckin’ Skeletor!!! You guys must be in cahoots with Hordak or fuckin’ King Hiss!!! I am furious over this shit! I’ve been waiting 3 years now for this piece of shit to come to light. Through the ridiculous John Woo bullshit, through the announcement of Mark’s script, and now this unforgivable act of treason. And by the way, that scum, Navid McIlhargey is an asshole for leaving! If you don’t wanna make this picture, someone else will you fucks! But in the meantime you can SUCK MY FUCKIN’ DICK!!! I’m pissed off now…FUCK!!! But He-man will still prevail in the end…BY THE POWER OF GRAYSKULL!!!