Our friends over at Latino Review recently got word that the director of one of my favorite films of 2008, the phenomenal (and seriously underrated) Kung-Fu Panda has been tapped to helm another action epic for the younger sect: A remake of 80’s cartoon hit, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe.
With all the talk in recent months about which directors are going to be handling which upcoming comic/cartoon films (Captain America being the latest buzz headliner), I have to say this bit of news has me the most excited. After all I loved He-Man as a kid, and I loved Kung-Fu Panda like I was still a kid. I see Panda‘s director, John Stevenson, doing great things with He-Man, if he can get it into theaters before it ends up D.O.A., again.
However, it looks as though the film is moving forward. Stevenson was seen leaving the offices of Matrix producer Joel Silver, who has been trying to get Masters Of the Universe off the ground for some time now. Word is that Silver and Co. were very impressed with Stevenson’s take on the He-Man legend, enough so to take another crack at the stalled film.
However, Stevenson’s film background is in animation and art department design, which raises some immediate questions:
Will the film still be called Grayskull?
Will the film still adhere to the Grayskull script that polarized so many critics around the blogosphere earlier this year?
Will He-Man still be a live-action adaptation? Or is Stevenson being brought on board to helm a CGI version of the film?
Personally, I’m hoping the latter is true. Having basked in the light of Kung-Fu Panda twice now (once in theaters, once in its full Blu-Ray glory), I know that Stevenson would deliver a CGI He-Man flick that would knock the socks of old and young viewers alike. I just hope Silver is keen enough to realize that his best chance for a big payday lies in CGI animation. No walking that live-action/CGI middle line that caused Speed Racer to bomb so hard.
What about you? Do you think Stevenson should try to go the CGI route with Masters of the Universe? Or should he try his luck in the ring of live-action? Let’s talk about it!
