‘Thor’ writer hired to script ‘Masters of the Universe’
"Yost has the power!"
The 1980s brought us many great cartoons like the original
Transformers series and
Thundercats. Standing alongside them was 1983's
He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, a series by Filmation that was based a line of toys by Mattel. A film has been in the development for years with Sony Pictures and Escape Artists and now according to
Variety the studios have hired Christopher Yost to write the screenplay.
Yost is best known as the writer of
Thor: The Dark World and is writing the sequel
Thor: Ragnarok which is set to be released in the fall of 2017. He also has experience writing on cartoon series like
Wolverine and the X-Men and the 2003 version of
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. With these credentials in fantasy, sci-fi and Saturday Morning cartoons Yost seems like a good fit to adapt the popular 80s cartoon.
Terry Rossio (The
Pirates of the Caribbean series) and Jeff Wadlow (
Kick-Ass 2) have written drafts for
Masters of the Universe with Wadlow being attached to direct.
G.I. Joe: Retaliation's Jon M. Chu was also attached to direct, but left to helm another adaptation of an 80s cartoon,
Jem and the Holograms.
For those who don't know about the show
He-Man and the Masters of the Universe tells a story about good and evil battling it out for control of the planet Eternia. The prince of the land, Prince Adam has the power to transform into the most power man in the universe He-Man and fights the evil Skeletor to stop his ambitions.
Dolph Lundgern and Frank Langella started in a live-action adaptation in 1987. It was a commercial and critical flop, but has earned a cult following. The series was also rebooted in 2002 for Cartoon Network and had a second season run.