In 2023, Mattel struck pay dirt with Barbie, which was met with positive critical reception and became the highest-grossing movie of the year with its $1.4 billion global haul. Next up for the toy company on the film front is the long-awaited Masters of the Universe reboot, which will be part of the 2026 movies schedule’s summer blockbuster season. Mattel Studios president Robbie Brenner opened up about Masters of the Universe’s scope at a recent event, as well as had positive things to say about the director’s cut she’s seen.
The reboot was one of several upcoming Mattel film and TV adaptations Brenner addressed at MIPCOM (via THR). Starting off, she described the impressive sights she witnessed while on the Masters of the Universe set when it was filming:
I went and visited the set last year, and out of all the movies that I’ve worked on in my entire life — even Barbie — it was [the biggest]. It was massive. I think we took over two or three sound stages. This was on eight back lots… [Characters] walking around that are eight-feet tall. There are these crazy characters in this movie.
This will be the second live-action film adaptation of the Masters of the Universe property, the first being the Dolph Lundgren-starring vehicle that came out in 1987. Efforts to get this reboot off the ground have been going since 2007, and production finally started this past January and wrapped in June. Going off Robbie Brenner’s description, it sounds like the new Masters of the Universe isn’t skimping on pouring the resources into making this take on the mythology surrounding He-Man look epic on the big screen. She added:
I just actually got to see a director’s cut of the movie, and [I was] absolutely blown away. That will be our second theatrical movie… I think it’s a perfect compliment to Barbie. I think people are going to be so excited. It is so much fun and feels so different.
Whether Masters of the Universe comes anywhere close to the kind of success that Barbie experienced remains to be seen, but it’ll certainly be much different kind of cinematic offering from Mattel with its mix of sci-fi and fantasy-driven action. This take on the popular toy brand stars Nicholas Galitzine as Prince Adam, who crash-landed on Earth, his mother’s homeworld, at age 10 and was marooned here. Two decades later, he’s finally reunited with the Power Sword of Grayskull and returns to Eternia to take on the He-Man mantle and battle the evil forces led by Jared Leto’s Skeletor.
Masters of the Universe, which comes out on June 6, 20206, also stars Camila Mendes as Teela, Idris Elba as Man-At-Arms, Alison Brie as Evil-Lyn and Kristen Wiig as Roboto, among others. Travis Knight directed the feature and Chris Butler wrote the script. If you’re looking for other modern adaptations of this franchise to enjoy ahead of time, the animated TV shows Masters of the Universe: Revelation, the follow-up Revolution, and He-Man and the Masters of the Universe can all be streamed with a Netflix subscription.
