Sony May End Up Selling Their MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE Film Project to Netflix
Sony Pictures has been trying to develop a new feature film adaptation of He-Man and The Masters of the Universe for years. They finally have a team of talent on board that is moving forward with the project and as it’s getting closer to production, the studio might actually end up selling it to Netflix.
According to THR, “studio chairman Tom Rothman is exploring the prospect of getting risk-free cash for the pricey project by making it for Netflix instead. A studio source says talks are preliminary, but such a deal would make Sony the next studio after Paramount to start making movies belonging exclusively or almost exclusively to the streamer.”
Sony just isn’t sure they want to take the risk on Masters of the Universe. There’s a little fear that they have that it could bomb at the box office. But going with Netflix is a safe bet because it’s a guaranteed payout. Studios selling to streamers like Netflix is an accelerating trend in the movie business.
This is a shame because a Master of the Universe movie has the potential to be something awesomely epic! This could and should be as amazing as something like the Lord of the Rings trilogy. But, the studio obviously isn’t thinking that big.
However, a low-level version of Masters of The Universe would be a natural fit at Netflix, which is the home of She-Ra and the Princesses of Power. Netflix has also teamed up with Kevin Smith to develop a new animated series titled Masters of the Universe: Revelation, which will be a continuation of the original Masters of the Universe story. Then there’s the film’s star, Noah Centineo, who has starred in various Netflix films such as To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before, The Perfect Date, and Sierra Burgess Is a Loser.
Matt Holloway and Art Marcum (Iron Man and Men in Black: International) have rewritten the script for the film, and Aaron and Adam Nee (Band of Robbers) are set to direct it.
Masters of the Universe has a theatrical release date of March 5th, 2021, but we’ll have to wait and see if that sticks.