who owns the rights to masters of the universe
Masters of the Universe Since 2007 a reboot of Masters of the Universe has been in the works but has gone through development hell with various studios, directors and writers connected to the project. Variety reported in 2007 that Grayskull: Masters of the Universe would be produced by Joel Silver, and written by Justin Marks, and employing visual special effects to a large degree, as was done with the 2007 war film 300[72] With that deal to reboot the film going nowhere, Warner Bros. announced that John Stevenson, director of Kung Fu Panda, was slated to direct the upcoming feature. On 12 May 2009, it was announced that the scripting duties had been handed to newcomer Evan Daugherty, with John Stevenson still attached to direct.[73] In September 2009, Sony took over the rights from Warner Bros. to produce the Masters of the Universe live-action film after Mattel and Silver couldn't agree on creative direction for the film.[74] Sony and Escape Artists' Todd Black, Jason Blumenthal and Steve Tisch were now developing the project from scratch for Columbia. In April 2010, Sony hired screenwriters Mike Finch and Alex Litvak to draft a new script.[75] Deadline reported that Jon M. Chu was in talks to direct the film.[76] Original He-Man actor Dolph Lundgren did an interview with IGN about possibly appearing in the film as King Randor.[77] On October 12, 2012, Richard Wenk was hired to rewrite the script for the film.[78] On March 28, 2013, Chu said that the film was still early in its development and that it would not be campy, but rather a dramatic origin story.[79][80] On October 7, 2013, The Hollywood Reporter reported that Terry Rossio would write the film; Todd Black, Jason Blumenthal and Steve Tisch were assigned to produce it. The film would be set on Eternia. The site also reported that Chu would not direct the film.[81]