The iconic music and theme songs throughout the James Bond franchise will get a special spotlight at the 97th Academy Awards.
A special tribute to the music of James Bond will take place at the 97th Academy Awards this weekend, with longtime producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson also getting to share the spotlight.
That the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences is honoring James Bond, the movies’ music and some of the most vital figures of the past few decades, comes at just about the worst possible time. As we all know, after exhaustive legal and creative battles, Amazon took full control of the 007 franchise to the tune of $1 billion, removing both Broccoli and Wilson of their creative control. To quote Douglas Adams, “This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move.”
Obviously the tribute to James Bond was planned long before such negotiations were ever made public, but that it’s coming directly on the heels is going to put a heavy air in the Dolby Theatre. In a way, it will also be something of a farewell to Broccoli and Wilson, both of whom have been directly involved with the franchise since the 1970s. They also both received the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award from AMPAS for their contributions to cinema. As such, the segment – the details of which are being kept tight – is going to be a bittersweet one.
The Academy Awards previously had a Fifty Years of Bond celebration back in 2013, with Shirley Bassey even singing “Goldfinger”, with Adele taking home Best Original Song for “Skyfall”. Music has of course been one of the key components of the James Bond movies, even getting its own documentary on the 60th anniversary of Dr. No.
Throughout the series’ 25-movie run (so far), James Bond theme songs have been nominated for Best Original Song, with “Skyfall”, Spectre’s “Writing’s on the Wall” and “No Time to Die” winning. The earliest win, however, comes in Best Sound Effects for Goldfinger.
What do you want to see and hear in the tribute to James Bond music at this weekend’s Oscars? What are the absolute greatest theme songs? Share your picks with us below!
Riff Raff is worth it to see Bill Murray playing a bad guy, but the slow pacing and tired narrative are hard to overcome.
PLOT: Vincent is an ex-criminal who more than anything, just wants a normal, peaceful life. He and his wife Sandy have built a loving family with their son DJ and are spending the winter break in a cabin before he goes off to college. Chaos ensues when Vincent’s disowned son Rocco, his girlfriend Marina and Vincent’s ex-wife Ruth abruptly show up to spoil the festivities with an ominous warning: the famed gangsters Leftie and Lonnie are coming for them.
REVIEW: Sometimes a film comes along and the cast is enough to convince you to take the leap. No plot or motivations uttered, just a poster featuring an intriguing cast of characters. And there are few lineups more intriguing than one that includes Bill Murray, Ed Harris, Jennifer Coolidge, Gabrielle Union, Pete Davidson, and Lewis Pullman. Add in some out of the box performances, and Riff Raff had all the makings for a great film. And what we get is good, but it feels like there was plenty left on the table.
Riff Raff is about Vincent, an ex-criminal who’s long since left the business and living a new life with a new family. But when his old family pays a visit, claiming Vincent’s former associates have beef with them, his life is turned upside down. Ed Harris does a good job as Vincent, even if I had a little trouble buying Gabrielle Union as his wife. Love both of them, but given the fact that their chemistry is practically non-existent, it feels more like filling out the cast with big names versus people who are right for the roles. Vincent never really won me over, and it mostly feels like: why are people fighting over THIS guy?
The criminals that are hunting them down, Lefty and Lonnie, are played by Bill Murray and Pete Davidson and they were easily the best part of Riff Raff. They have a very fun dynamic and it feels a bit outside of what we tend to see from these two. Murray is fantastic as Lefty, a mob boss who’s going through a bit of an existential crisis. The way he kills a dude, only to immediately talk about how he probably didn’t deserve it shows he’s not so black and white. Usually, he’s just playing a variation of the Bill Murray schtick that we’ve seen for years (and love) but he’s really doing something different here. I’d say this is easily the most unlikable he’s been in years, making for some intriguing casting.
Jennifer Coolidge is wonderful as Vincent’s ex-wife Ruth. I’ll never tire of her being gloriously crude to children. She brings a likeability to Ruth that I think would have otherwise been absent. She still has those classic Coolidge trademarks, but manages to feel different enough. Miles J Harvey takes the role of “young kid with a verbiage of a scholar and way too much emotional security.” I’m never a fan of this kind of character, and if anything, he clashes with the dark humor of the film a bit. I understand that it was necessary in order to show Vincent’s new life, but he feels very disconnected from the rest.
The film is pretty low energy and moves at a slower pace than most modern films. It’s almost presented like a stageplay, with long bits of dialogue and limited locations. All of the events just kind of happen and the context isn’t properly communicated. There are plenty of great performances, but all of the characters feel very surface level and not very lived in. There’s such a nonchalant quality to Riff Raff‘s narrative, that nothing ever really has much impact. Even the deaths just kind of happen without much pomp and circumstance.
Riff Raff winds up in a place of death and chaos, giving a bit of identity to what is an otherwise stale mob tale. The performances and characters really help to give this a bit of energy. But outside of Murray and Davidson, it can feel a bit old hat. Ultimately, I liked the film for its performances, but I feel like we’ve seen this story told before, and in a more interesting way.
RIFF RAFF RELEASES IN THEATERS ON FEBRUARY 28TH, 2025.
The iconic opening scene of the first Scream was a big moment in Drew Barrymore’s career and her daughters surprised her by watching it.
Entertainment Weekly reports that Drew Barrymore revealed on her show that her daughters, Olive and Frankie, had recently watched Scream for the first time. Barrymore says she lets her children discover her movies whenever they feel interested and her pre-teen daughters surprised her one day. Barrymore explained, “They came home the other day and said they watched Scream, and they were like, ‘Mom, you got it so good in that movie! Oh my God!’”
Famously, Barrymore’s appearance was intended to shock the audience as the advertising suggested that she would’ve been a bigger part of the movie, only for the film to pull the rug out from under people and have her grisly killed off in the opening scene. The daytime talk show host said that they watched the Wes Craven film at a friend’s sleepover one night. She continued, “It’s just so fun that they’re old enough now — they’re basically 11 and 13, almost.” Barrymore also recalled, “I think Olive said, ‘When I get a boyfriend in high school, that’s gonna be our Halloween costume. He’ll be Steve and I’ll be you.”
Meanwhile, Scream 7 is currently underway. Spyglass and Paramount once intended to make a Scream 7 that would have starred Scream (2022) and Scream VI leads Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega, with Freaky and Happy Death Day director Christopher Landon at the helm. But then Ortega allegedly asked for a substantial pay raise – and as we saw when Neve Campbell dropped out of Scream VI due to a pay dispute, these pay issues don’t tend to work out. Then Barrera was fired from the project after comments she made about the Israel-Hamas war didn’t go over well with executives at Spyglass. Landon dropped out the of the project soon after. So Scream 7 has been re-developed, Campbell has signed on to return as franchise heroine Sidney Prescott, back in the lead role, while Kevin Williamson, who wrote the screenplay for the original Scream, directs the film from a screenplay by 2022’s Scream and Scream VI writer Guy Busick, who crafted the story with his co-writer on the fifth and sixth films, James Vanderbilt. (Vanderbilt is also a producer on the most recent sequels.)
Neve Campbell is joined in the cast by Isabel May of the Yellowstone prequel 1883, who has signed on to play Sidney’s daughter; Mckenna Grace of the Ghostbusters franchise, Grace’s Ghostbusters co-star Celeste O’Connor, Gen V‘s Asa Germann, The Fabelmans‘ Sam Rechner, Pitch Perfect‘s Anna Camp, fellow franchise star Courteney Cox, who reprises the role of reporter / author Gale Weathers, Joel McHale (Community) as Sidney’s husband Mark Evans, Ethan Embry (The Devil’s Candy), and Mark Consuelos (Riverdale). Mason Gooding and Jasmin Savoy Brown are back as Chad Meeks-Martin and Mindy Meeks-Martin from Scream (2022) and Scream VI, and Scream (1996) and Scream 3 killers Matthew Lillard and Scott Foley are somehow back as well. Roger L. Jackson, who has provided the voice of Ghostface in all of the previous films, is doing the same for this one.
Trailer: The Jolly Monkey, a mockbuster of The Monkey from The Asylum, is now in theatres and will reach On Demand tomorrow
Writer/director Osgood Perkins‘ feature film adaptation of the Stephen King short story The Monkey reached theatres last week – and now, a mockbuster from The Asylum called The Jolly Monkey has joined it on the big screen! You can watch the trailer for The Jolly Monkey in the embed above.
The feature directorial debut of Ryan Ebert, who has previously written the likes of Heretics, Shark Warning, Megalodon: The Frenzy, Shark Side of the Moon, Tales of a Fifth Grade Robin Hood, Apocalypse of Ice, and San Andreas Mega Quake, the film has the following synopsis: Upon their mother’s death, siblings Jenny and Marshall return to renovate her crumbling motel, The Jolly Monkey. But as they work, a deadly force tied to their family’s dark past emerges, forcing them to face terrifying truths if they want to survive.
Dominic Keating (Star Trek: Enterprise), Jane Hajduk (Year by the Sea), Anthony Jensen (Snow White and the Seven Samurai), Courtney Fulk (General Hospital), Lisa Cole (A Deadly Threat to My Family), Landon Jacob Lee (24 Hours to D-Day), Aria Surrec (Would It Kill You to Laugh?), Zack Gold (Pam & Tommy), Saskia Norman (Emerging from the Silence), and newcomer Neirin Winter star.
As of today, The Jolly Monkey can be seen on the big screen in the following theatres: Laemmle Glendale (Glendale, CA) – Aurora Cineplex (Roswell, GA) – Film Noir Cinema (Brooklyn, NY) – Hickory Ridge Cinemas (Brunswick, OH) – Trylon Cinema (Minneapolis, MN)
If none of those theatres are near you, don’t worry, you still won’t have to wait long to see the movie, as it’s set to receive an On Demand release tomorrow, March 1st.
The Asylum has brought us many mockbusters over the years, including The Twisters, Road Wars: Max Fury, The Exorcists, Battle for Pandora, Bullet Train Down, Jurassic Domination, Top Gunner, Battle Star Wars, Alien Predator, Triassic World, Tomb Invader, Atlantic Rim, Abraham Lincoln vs. Zombies, Almighty Thor, Thor: God of Thunder, AVH: Alien vs. Hunter, Transmorphers, Snakes on a Train, The Da Vinci Treasure, War of the Worlds, Hillside Cannibals, and many more.
What did you think of The Jolly Monkey trailer? Will you be watching this movie? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
A trailer has been released for the Jon Heder mumblegore sci-fi thriller horror film I See the Demon, which premieres soon
The horror film I See the Demon, starring Jon Heder of Napoleon Dynamite and Tremors: Shrieker Island, is set to have its world premiere at the Cinequest Film Festival on March 20th, with a second screening set to take place on March 23rd. With those dates right around the corner, a trailer for the film has made its way online and can be seen in the embed above.
Directed by Jacob Lees Johnson, who also crafted the screenplay with Davey Morrison and Martha Duzett, I See the Demon has the following synopsis: After seeing a strange object floating in the sky, Lucy comes home to a surprise birthday party with all of her favorite people. She’s overjoyed, but when asked about her day, she realizes she can’t remember anything about it. Her loved ones assure her it’s nothing to worry about, but as more unsettling things occur that only she seems to notice, they keep telling her to relax… enjoy the party… there’s nothing to worry about… we’ll take care of you… As the evening descends into madness, Lucy must discern reality from illusion, and who of her friends are really on her side. All of this will reveal the forgotten trauma Lucy’s tried to bury, and the secrets of a bizarre procedure she cannot understand. It’s described as being a “mumblegore sci-fi thriller.”
Johnson also produced the film with Jordan Augustine, Ashley Cook, Barrett Burgin, and Derek Romrell.
Heder is joined in the cast by Alexis Zollicoffer (Sympathy for the Devil), Mallory Everton (Studio C), Noah Kershisnik (9 Years to Neptune), Archelaus Crisanto (V/H/S/99), Dave Martinez (A Christmas of Wonders), Mac Steele Foster (Babysitter Must Die), Oran Stainbrook (Altered Perceptions), Halem Medina (Hunting Ava Bravo), Dminor (Proper Manors), and newcomers Maliyah Blade and Melanie Fernelius.
What did you think of the trailer for I See the Demon? Does this “mumblegore sci-fi thriller” look like a movie you would like to check out? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
The movie seems interesting to me, so here’s hoping we’ll be hearing some distribution news soon after its film festival premiere.
Keanu gets into why he wanted to make Visionaries, his partnership with Gard Hollinger, and why highlighting innovative people is important.
Keanu Reeves may be known as one of the nicest guys in Hollywood, he also has plenty of interests away from cinema. Founding a motorcycle company, funding a cancer research charity, touring with his band, Dogstar; there are plenty of places you can find Keanu that aren’t a film set. I was fortunate enough to talk with both Keanu and his business partner Gard Hollinger about their newest venture: Visionaries, a Roku show about interesting people making innovative art, technology, and advancements for the human race. It’s truly a fascinating look at the good that people can accomplish, with Keanu and Gard’s curiosity really shining through.
We were specifically told to not ask ANY questions about anything non-Visionaries-related, so we weren’t able to get any info about Constantine 2 or a potential return to the John Wick franchise. However, Keanu did say recently that, “We’ve been trying to make (Constantine 2) for over a decade, and we just recently put a story together and pitched it to DC Studios and they said, ‘Okay.’ So, we’re going to try and write a script.” And there’s one thing we can definitely expect, “John Constantine’s going to be tortured even more.“ And we’re aching to see you play him again, Keanu. Here’s hoping that it’s more than just talk and we’ll see cameras rolling on Constantine 2 before too long.
VISIONARIES plot synopsis:
“Keanu Reeves and Gard Hollinger are kindred souls with a bond built on a love of motorcycles and an insatiable curiosity about the world around them. In 2011, they founded ARCH Motorcycle to reimagine what a motorcycle could be. To them, ARCH is a mindset, a lens through which to see the world. This is a journey of curiosity, to understand where human creativity comes from and to shine a light on the visionaries who are pushing the bounds of innovation and changing our world.”
VISIONARIES WILL AIR ON THE ROKU CHANNEL ON MARCH 7TH, 2025.
About the Author
Tyler Nichols is a horror fanatic who resides in Michigan and is always on the hunt for the next great film. When not scouring the internet for movie news, he is usually off watching something dark, writing nonsensical musings, or playing in some fantastical video game world. While horror takes up most of his time, he still makes time for films of all types, with a certain affinity for the strange and unusual. He’s also an expert on all things Comic Book Cinema. In addition to reviews and interviews here on JoBlo.com, Tyler also helps with JoBlo Horror Originals where he’s constantly trying to convince viewers to give lesser-known horror films a chance.
We’re proud to share an action-packed EXCLUSIVE clip from the zombie film Silent Zone, coming soon from Saban Films
Coming our way from Saban Films, the zombie horror film Silent Zone is set to receive a Digital and On Demand release on March 7th – and in anticipation of that release, we’re proud to share an EXCLUSIVE clip from the film that gives a preview of an action sequence that’s packed with zombies! You can check it out in the embed above.
The feature directorial debut of Peter Deak, who has made several short films and also has multiple producing credits to his name, Silent Zone was filmed in Hungary and has the following synopsis: In a zombie-ravaged world, a resourceful teen and her protector fight for survival, facing relentless dangers and testing the limits of hope and loyalty. The screenplay was written by Viktor Csák and Krisztián Illés, both of whom previously worked with Deak on the 2013 short film Rush. According to IMDb, the writing duo is also collaborating with Deak on an upcoming thriller called People of the Darkness, which is said to be in pre-production.
Deak produced Silent Zone, with the writers serving as associate producers alongside Papp Béla, Peter Miklós, and Zsolt Fekete, who was also the line producer.
The film’s cast includes Nikolett Barabas (The Ideal), Luca Papp (Dune: Prophecy), Ágota Dunai (Fight or Flight), Matt Devere (SAS: Rise of the Black Swan), Declan Hannigan (Moon Knight), Anders Olof Grundberg (Poor Things), Katia Bokor (Love on the Danube: Love Song), Roderick Hill (Kraven the Hunter), Harry Szovik (Crimes of Fashion: Killer Clutch), Robert Jackson (Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan), Alexis Latham (The Man with the Iron Heart), Julian Krenn (FBI: International), Márk Palla (Strike Back), and newcomers Katalin Krenn, Niels Jacobs, David Fox, and Aniek Jacobs.
What did you think of our exclusive clip from Silent Zone? Will you be watching this zombie movie when it receives a Digital and On Demand release in March? Let us know by leaving a comment below – and take a look at this promotional art while you’re scrolling down:
Matthew Lillard has joined the cast of Daredevil: Born Again season 2, which is already filming ahead of the season 1 premiere
The nine episode first season of the Marvel series Daredevil: Born Again is scheduled to premiere on Disney+ on March 4, 2025 – and season 2 of the show was scheduled to begin filming today, February 28th! With cameras, presumably, now rolling, Deadline has broken the news that the new batch of episodes brings Matthew Lillard (Five Nights at Freddy’s) into the cast. Details on the character Lillard will be playing are, of course, being kept under wraps.
This is a busy time for Lillard, as he just completed work on the sequel to Five Nights at Freddy‘s and also has a role in the currently-filming Scream 7, playing a character that was killed off in the first Scream way back in 1996.
Although the initial plan was to rework some elements and make Daredevil: Born Again stand separate from the Netflix Daredevil series (despite sharing some cast members), the show underwent a creative overhaul when the writers and actors strikes shut down production in 2023. Now, this series is a direct follow-up to the Netflix series, picking up five years later.
Dario Scardapane, who worked on Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan and the Netflix series The Punisher, was brought in to serve as showrunner on Daredevil: Born Again during the creative overhaul. The behind-the-scenes shake-up also led to Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead, the directing team who were at the helm of multiple episodes of Moon Knight and Loki season 2, being hired as directors on the show. Matt Corman and Chris Ord were previously the head writers on the show, but they were let go.
The cast of the series includes Charlie Cox, Vincent D’Onofrio, Elden Henson, Deborah Ann Woll, Jon Bernthal, Wilson Bethel, and Ayelet Zurer, reprising the roles of Matt Murdock / Daredevil, Wilson Fisk / Kingpin, Murdock’s associates Foggy Nelson and Karen Page, Frank Castle / The Punisher, Benjamin “Dex” Poindexter / Bullseye, and Vanessa Marianna Fisk. Also in the cast are Margarita Levieva as Matt Murdock’s love interest Heather Glenn, Michael Gandolfini as a character named Daniel Blade, Genneya Walton as BB Urich, Jeremy Earl as Anti-Vigilante Task Force member Cole North, and Lou Taylor Pucci, taking on an unspecified role.
What do you think of Matthew Lillard joining the cast of Daredevil: Born Again season 2, and who would you like to see him play on the show? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
Madame Web and Joker: Folie à Deux win and lose with gusto at this year’s Razzie Awards, while Coppola wins for Worst Director.
The 45th Razzie Awards results are in. Sony’s Madame Web is the clear winner/loser of this year’s dragging of cinematic mediocrity with three wins, including Worst Picture, Worst Actress for Dakota Johnson, and Worst Screenplay. The Razzie results arrive two days before Oscar Sunday when films that some consider the best of the best have their chance to shine.
Madame Web taking the top prize is unsurprising given the movie’s abysmal quality. It was my worst film of 2024 and a Golden Schmoe nominee for worst movie of 2024, only to be beaten by Todd Phillips’s Joker: Folie a Deux. Dakota Johnson hardly tried to defend the film during its PR tour, saying she “probably will never make anything like it again.” To be fair, she enjoyed working with her castmates, who, despite circumstances, gave Madame Web the old college try, but the film turned into something completely different from what Johnson had in mind when she signed on.
Jerry Seinfeld snagged the Razzie for Worst Actor thanks to his Unfrosted film, while Amy Schumer earned Worst Supporting Actress for the same movie about the war between Kellogg’s and Post to create a cake that could change breakfast forever, the Pop Tart.
One filmmaker who took his Razzie nominations in stride was Francis Ford Coppola, who won Worst Director for Megalopolis. Coppola celebrated his win on Friday by posting a cheeky response on Instagram.
“I am thrilled to accept the Razzie award in so many important categories for @megalopolisfilm , and for the distinctive honor of being nominated as the worst director, worst screenplay, and worst picture at a time when so few have the courage to go against the prevailing trends of contemporary moviemaking,” he said.
“In this wreck of a world today, where ART is given scores as if it were professional wrestling, I chose to NOT follow the gutless rules laid down by an industry so terrified of risk that despite the enormous pool of young talent at its disposal, may not create pictures that will be relevant and alive 50 years from now,” Coppola wrote.
“What an honor to stand alongside a great and courageous filmmaker like Jacques Tati who impoverished himself completely to make one of cinema’s most beloved failures, PLAYTIME! My sincere thanks to all my brilliant colleagues who joined me to make our work of art, MEGALOPOLIS, and let us remind ourselves us that box-office is only about money, and like war, stupidity and politics has no true place in our future.”
You can see the complete list of winners/losers for this year’s Razzie Awards below:
Worst Picture
Borderlands
Joker: Folie à Deux
Madame Web
Megalopolis
Reagan
Actor
Jack Black / Dear Santa
Zachary Levi / Harold and the Purple Crayon
Joaquin Phoenix / Joker: Folie à Deux
Dennis Quaid / Reagan
Jerry Seinfeld / Unfrosted (WINNER)
Actress
Cate Blanchett / Borderlands
Lady Gaga / Joker: Folie à Deux
Bryce Dallas Howard / Argylle
Dakota Johnson / Madame Web (WINNER)
Jennifer Lopez / Atlas
Supporting Actor
Jack Black (Voice Only) Borderlands
Kevin Hart / Borderlands
Shia LaBeouf (in drag) / Megalopolis
Tahar Rahim / Madame Web
Jon Voight / Megalopolis, Reagan, Shadow Land & Strangers (WINNER)
Supporting Actress
Ariana DeBose / Argylle & Kraven the Hunter
Leslie Anne Down (as Margaret Thatcher) / Reagan
Emma Roberts / Madame Web
Amy Schumer / Unfrosted (WINNER)
FKA twigs / The Crow
Director
S.J. Clarkson / Madame Web
Francis Ford Coppola / Megalopolis (WINNER)
Todd Phillips / Joker: Folie à Deux
Eli Roth / Borderlands
Jerry Seinfeld / Unfrosted
Screen Combo
Any Two Obnoxious Characters (But Especially Jack Black) / Borderlands
Any Two Unfunny “Comedic Actors” / Unfrosted
The Entire Cast of Megalopolis / Megalopolis
Joaquin Phoenix & Lady Gaga / Joker: Folie à Deux (WINNER)
Dennis Quaid & Penelope Ann Miller (as “Ronnie and Nancy”) / Reagan
The Masters of the Universe franchise has been going strong for over forty years now, consisting of multiple lines of action figures, several animated TV shows, a bunch of comic book series, and much more including a live-action film adaptation that was released in 1987 and starred Dolph Lundgren as the iconic character He-Man. Although that ’87 film has a strong fan following, it wasn’t received very well in general… but now, Mattel (the toy company behind the franchise) is ready to give the idea of a live-action Masters of the Universe film another try. Set up at Amazon MGM Studios and Mattel Studios, the new Masters of the Universe is aiming for a theatrical release date of June 5, 2026 – and here’s everything we know about it:
DEVELOPMENT HELL
The new attempt to bring a live-action Masters of Universe movie into the world has been making its way through development hell since at least 2004, with a large stack of scripts being written over the years as the project passed through the hands of many different directors. Among the writers who have worked on the project over the years are Mike Finch and Alex Litvak (Predators), Evan Daugherty (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2014), Richard Wenk (The Equalizer), Terry Rossio (Pirates of the Caribbean), Jeff Wadlow (Kick-Ass 2), Christopher Yost (Thor: The Dark World), David S. Goyer (Man of Steel), Art Marcum and Matt Holloway (Iron Man), and David Callaham (The Expendables). Wadlow and Goyer were also attached to direct the film when they were working on the script. Some of the other directors who have gotten involved with the project and then stepped away from it are John Woo (Hard Boiled), John Stevenson (Kung Fu Panda), Jon M. Chu (Wicked), McG (Charlie’s Angels), and the Nee brothers (The Lost City). It has bounced from studio to studio: Warner Bros., Sony, Netflix, before ending up at Amazon MGM. It has been reported that Netflix pumped $30 million into developing the concept before deciding to let it go because the budget of their version would have been $200 million.
Once things fell apart at Netflix, Mattel and producer Todd Black chose to go to Amazon MGM because they were offering to give the film a “significant theatrical release,” which wasn’t going to happen in the Netflix days.
At times, Masters of the Universe has even gotten far enough into its development for actors to be cast as He-Man. Noah Centineo of The Recruit was set to play the character at one point, and started building up muscle for it. After Centineo dropped out, Kyle Allen (A Haunting in Venice) was cast as He-Man and started working out six hours a day in preparation. But neither of those actors will be playing He-Man when the film goes into production.
DIRECTOR & SCRIPT
Once the project ended up in the hands of Amazon MGM Studios, it was put on the fast track. Just three months after their deal was made, they had Bumblebee director Travis Knight in talks to take the helm, and he’s the director who is finally bringing live-action versions of He-Man and his allies and enemies back to the screen.
Knight is working from a screenplay that has been written by Chris Butler (ParaNorman), based on earlier drafts that were written by David Callaham and formerly attached directors Aaron and Adam Nee. The Nee brothers got involved when Masters of the Universe was still at Sony, then followed it over to Netflix, where they worked on the script with Callaham. So even though the film is coming from Amazon MGM, it still benefited from choices that were made when it was set up at other studios.
To cut costs, the majority of the 1987 Masters of the Universe film is set on 1980s Earth, with He-Man and various other characters being transported from their home world of Eternia to Earth with the use of a “Cosmic Key.” Oddly, despite technological advances and the fact that the new movie is going to have a much larger budget, the filmmakers are still planning to set a chunk of its running time on Earth. Here’s the synopsis: Ten-year-old Prince Adam crashed to Earth in a spaceship and was separated from his magical Power Sword—the only link to his home on Eternia. After tracking it down almost two decades later, Prince Adam is whisked back across space to defend his home planet against the evil forces of Skeletor. But to defeat such a powerful villain, Prince Adam will first need to uncover the mysteries of his past and become He-Man: the most powerful man in the Universe.
Knight is bringing this story to life with the help of cinematographer Fabian Wagner, who has worked on the likes of Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon.
CAST
Soon after Knight signed on to direct in February of 2024, the 2026 release date was announced. And just three months after the director was hired, he found the actor he wanted to play He-Man: Nicholas Galitzine, who already had a working relationship with Amazon, having been in the Prime Video films The Idea of You and Red, White and Royal Blue. Once he was cast, Galitzine had around seven or eight months to get into He-Man shape. He discussed the process in an interview with W magazine: “There’s been a lot of eating and weightlifting, a lot of stunts. I’m eating about 4,000 calories a day, but the amount of physical work I’m doing, you end up hungry at the end of the day, which is quite surprising. This is the fun part. I will eventually go into what’s called the cutting phase, where I’m going to be starved and so rude to everyone. I can only apologize for the person I’m going to become in a few months’ time.“
Galitzine is joined in the cast by Camila Mendes (Riverdale) as Teela, Jared Leto (Morbius) as the villainous Skeletor, Idris Elba (Luther) as Man-at-Arms (a.k.a. Duncan), GLOW‘s Alison Brie as Skeletor’s right hand woman Evil-Lyn, Morena Baccarin (Deadpool & Wolverine) as The Sorceress, Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson (Captain America: Brave New World) as Malcolm (a.k.a. Fisto), Sam C. Wilson (Dodger) as Trap Jaw, Hafthor Bjornsson (Game of Thrones) as Goat Man, Kojo Attah (The Beekeeper) as Tri-Klops, Jon Xue Zhang (The Brothers Sun) as Ram-Man, and James Purefoy (A Knight’s Tale) and Charlotte Riley (Peaky Blinders) as He-Man’s parents, King Randor and Queen Marlena. All of those names will be familiar to fans of the Masters of the Universe franchise – and then we have Sasheer Zamata (Agatha All Along) and Christian Vunipola (Wildflower) as a pair of new characters, Suzie and Hussein.
A behind-the-scenes image shows Galitzine, sporting He-Man’s blonde hair, and Mendes, with red in her hair to play Teela, preparing for their roles alongside Hafthor Bjornsson… who, unfortunately, is not sporting his Goat Man horns.
Galitzine was recently interviewed by The Hollywood Reporter, where he gave this quote about the film: “What I will say is our version is quite different from the original animation, which we all agree was camp within its own right and worked so well for the time. But there’s been a couple of iterations, obviously since there was the Revelation version of Masters of the Universe, and the comics themselves. And we’re very much treating our script as Bible, you know. But it’s kind of amazing to hear what this show meant to a lot of people. It was really formative for a lot of people, so it’s exciting to do something that will have a nostalgia element as well as hopefully attract a bunch of new fans.“
While speaking to Variety, Brie was asked if she needs to put on muscle to play Evil-Lyn. She said, “I’ve been doing it for years. I’ve just been maintaining, since GLOW, a pretty steady layer of muscle, but I’ve been trying to get a little more buffed up.” Asked if she was into the He-Man cartoon as a kid, she answered, “I remember watching it as a kid. Less than remembering the show itself and details about the show, I more just remember the act of being in front of the TV, watching the show. And She-Ra, of course. It has been fun to go back and watch episodes of the original cartoon. It’s cheeky, it’s weird, it’s funny.“
Brie told The Hollywood Reporter, “I read the script and I think it’s really clever. It has a really great take on He-Man, and Nick Galitzine is really talented. Those are the reasons I said yes. Actors always say that villains have the most fun, and that’s probably true. I’ve played morally compromised people but not a truly deliciously sinister evil villain. I’ve been trying to manifest playing a villain in a superhero movie, and [this is] answering that call for me.” She discussed the original animated series in that interview as well: “I definitely remember it being on, and I went back and started watching it again. It’s much funnier than I remember. Evil-Lyn and Skeletor have a contentious relationship.“
FILMING
IMDb Pro reported that Masters of the Universe started filming in London at the start of January 2025, but in early February, cast member Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson said filming was “about to start.” Whether filming began in January or February, we know that Galitzine was spotted on set, in “Adam on Earth” mode, around February 14th:
The first images of the Masters of the Universe movie have been released. What I understood from the script is that Adam is on Earth and will remember who he really is and return to Eternia. I think this movie should be set in Eternia and not on Earth.#motupic.twitter.com/EqFSsV8oBN
Ten days later, Amazon MGM Studios shared a tease of Galitzine’s He-Man mode:
That’s everything we know about the new Masters of the Universe right now, but we’ll keep updating this article as the film makes its way toward its 2026 theatrical release.
