Mike Lowery
With casting coagulated on Sony’s manifestation of the “Masters of the Universe” movie – filming this summer! – I thought I’d flick back through some of the casting rumours pinned to the long-gestating, seemingly once-cursed movie reboot, so we could all check out some fun ‘what if’s.
Interestingly enough, before Sony snapped up the languishing project and ported it over to their Culver City compound, previous studios seemed more interested in casting a muscly wrestler-type in the lead role – someone not unlike Dolph Lundgren, who yielded the sword in the 1987 feature. I’m sure some of those suggestions probably came from original scribe David S.Goyer, of “Blade” and “Man of Steel” fame, or Joel Silver, who was attached to produce at one stage. We know their tastes.
The actor that is now in talks for the role looks nothing like the guys on Fox 2000 and Warner Bros’ original wish-list – Noah Centineo from Netflix’s “All The Boys I’ve Loved Before” – so it’ll be interesting to see how the film handles the character’s supposed strongman-like appearance (maybe the kid has been in the gym for a few months now? – whaddyaweknow?). Whatever the case, I’m sure the Nee brothers know what they’re doing – they’re good guys, and no doubt went for a chap with acting muscles as opposed to just plain ol’ muscles. Worked with Christian Bale on Batman, after all. Heck, Chris Pratt even lost a couple of pounds when he was cast as Star-Lord. So he’ll be fine.
The script has also changed a lot since the WB and Fox 2000 days, so chances are it no longer calls for a Hulk.
Here’s a look at a few actors that were rumoured to be up for Eternia’s mightiest man back in the day.
Kellan Lutz
The “Twilight” alum really, really wanted this role. He had met with McG, when the “Charlie’s Angels” director was attached to direct the movie for Sony. For all we know, he was McG’s choice but when the filmmaker fell off, the Nees decided to start afresh with scouting for a lead – just as they did with the script.
Brad Pitt
About fifteen years ago, when Pitt was at his fittest (remember “Troy”?), Legendary Pictures were rumored to have had the blonde thesp atop of their wishlist for the title role. If the studio did indeed reach out to Pitt (and his publicist was quick to deny the reports, so it’s likely this was BS), I think we can all imagine his immediate reaction.
Gerard Butler
Not surprisingly, considering his bulk n’ oil routine on “300”, Scottish action-man Butler was also said to be on Legendary’s list to take on Skeletor there for a while. With a couple of packets of hair dye, he might’ve just worked too. Legendary really liked Butler, so I’d put coinage on this one’s truth.
Triple H
A burgeoning movie star at the time – like his ring counterpart, The Rock – Triple H was fresh from David S.Goyer’s “Blade Trinity” when he was rumored to be in talks to for producer John Woo’s version of the film at Fox2000. The connection makes me think this has some weight. Seems Woo had a very diverse wish-list for the main role – with Paul Walker (hot from the first “Fast and the Furious”), Chris Showerman (George from “George of the Jungle 2”), and Matt Davis (“Blue Crush”) also said to be in the mix at the time. Guessing Goyer suggested Triple H?
Chris Hemsworth
This doesn’t get any further than a ‘no, thanks’ apparently. But the story is, after Dolph Lundgren publicly suggested the Aussie superstar should ride Battle Cat, Sony Pictures got in touch with the actor to discuss but he wasn’t at all interested because of He-Man’s likeness to Thor. Fair enough, too – would’ve been a stupid move.
“Masters of the Universe”, directed by Aaron and Adam Nee, and scripted by Matt Holloway and Art Marcum, goes before the cameras this July for an expected release of summer 2020.
