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Terry Rossio, the co-writer of The Lone Ranger, has been tapped to work on Masters of the Universe, Columbia’s big-screen take on the popular 1980s Mattel toy line.
Escape Artists’ Todd Black, Jason Blumenthal and Steve Tisch are producing the project, which at one point was going by the name Grayskull.
Jon M. Chu, the helmer of G.I. Joe: Retaliation, is no longer attached to direct.
While the Dolph Lundgren-starring 1987 movie brought the heroes to Earth, Universe will be set on Eternia, just like the mythology of the toy and classic 1980s cartoon series.
PHOTOS: The ‘Star Wars’ Universe: $20 Billion Worth of Toys, Rides, Books and Games
If you need a quick refresher of the series, take this in: Universe centered on a blond warrior named Prince Adam who, when uttering the magic words, “By the power of Grayskull — I have the power,” turned into the heroic He-Man. He and his allies — Battle Cat, Man-at-Arms and Orko — defended their planet Eternia from the evil forces of Skeletor, who tried week after week to conquer the fortress Castle Grayskull, which imbued He-Man with his powers.
Michael Finch and Alex Litvak, as well as Richard Wenk worked on previous drafts.
The project is being overseen at Columbia by Hannah Minghella and DeVon Franklin.
Mattel is a partner on the movie, and Julia Pistor and David Voss are executive producing on behalf of company.
Rossio is at ease in the big-budget world of fantasy tentpoles having co-written the Pirates of the Caribbean movies with Ted Elliott. Among his other credits are the two Antonio Banderas-starring Zorro movies (both with Elliott).
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