They have the power! Screenwriting duo Art Marcum & Matt Holloway, whose credits include Iron Man, Punisher: War Zone, and the upcoming Men in Black: International, have just been tapped to rewrite the new Masters of the Universe film, which is still plugging along at Columbia Pictures and appears to be close to entering the final stages of development.

The film’s previous script was penned by David S. Goyer (The Dark Knight), who was once attached to direct before relinquishing that role to filmmaking brothers Adam and Aaron Nee (Band of Robbers). Goyer is still executive producing the film, however, while Todd Black, Jason Blumenthal, Steve Tisch, and DeVon Franklin are serving as producers. The news of a rewrite may at first glance seem like bad news for the long-gestating project, but it could be a signal that the movie could start filming soon. According to Collider, Marcum and Holloway are known as “closers” around Hollywood — meaning they come into projects late and polish up scripts to get them ready for filming. The site also notes that the pair is rumored to be the “fix-it men” of Columbia Pictures’ president Sanford Panitch, which further suggests that Panitch’s bringing them on board means the duo is there to get the movie ready for filming. That’s important because the film currently has a release date scheduled for December of this year, and if it wants to have any chance of keeping that date, production needs to start ASAP.

He-Man and the Masters of the Universe got their start as a blockbuster toy line from Mattel in the ’80s, which spawned comic books, a successful animated series, and a big budget live-action film in 1987, Masters of the Universe. That movie starred Dolph Lundgren as Prince Adam/He-Man and Frank Langella as his nemesis, the evil Skeletor. The film grossed less than its budget, making it a notorious commercial flop, but it’s still regarded as a cult classic in some circles (including here at COMET). Hopefully, the new version can include all the camp from the original we loved so much while also managing to turn a profit.

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Image courtesy of MGM