He-Man Has An Axe To Grind

When I was a kid I was HUGE on action figures. I had these great DC related action figures that would actually punch when you squeezed their legs. I remember I would repeatedly instruct Superman to kick Batman's ass with a simple squeeze. However, my favorite figures were the "Masters of the Universe" collection where the chest would take damage to them by revealing slashes that resembled wounds from an axe or sword. My battles between He-Man and Skeletor were epic within the walls of the minature Castle Greyskull. They even went into battle on their respective battle cats, Skeletor's purple and He-Mans green with orange stripes.

Hopefully we'll get an updated version of those figures because He-Man is on his way back into the mainstream. Another scoop put forth by Latino Review in November has finally been confirmed by the trades. John Stevenson is slotted to direct "Masters of the Universe" for Warner Bros.

Silver is producing through his Silver Pictures banner. Mattel's Barry Waldo will be executive producer.WB acquired the property in 2007, and Justin Marks wrote the first draft of the script based on a story he developed with Neil Ellice.

The Mattel property became iconic by way of the 1980s cartoon series "He-Man and the Masters of the Universe," and the property was previously turned into a campy flop by Cannon Films in 1987, with Dolph Lungdren as He-Man and "Frost/Nixon" star Frank Langella as the villainous Skeletor.

The film project is a big priority for Mattel, which licenses a high-end line of He-Man toys that are popular with hardcore collectors. Hollywood has become a magnet for branded toy-line properties, as DreamWorks and Paramount ready a June 26 release for "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" and Paramount preps for an Aug. 7 release on "G.I. Joe," both of which began as toy lines that became hit animated series.

Stevenson said the first film came to mind when he was asked to consider the job, and the impression wasn't a good one. He changed his mind when he went to Mattel headquarters and was shown into a secret lair that contained the visuals created by the toymaker staff.

I haven't bought many action figures since hair started appearing on my chest, but you can be sure if this flick gets off the ground and they bring back the "hack & slash" figures, I'll be first in line.