John Chu in talks to direct a Live-Action He-Man And the Masters Of The Universe movie

In a surprise move, Deadline is reporting that G.I.JOE: Retaliation directer John M. Chu is in talks with Sony Pictures and Escape Artists to helm the live-action adaptation of He-Man And The Masters Of The Universe.

The latest incarnation of the Masters Of The Universe film revolves around the character He-Man, the alter-ego of  Prince Adam, the son of the King of Eternia, who transforms into a warrior by shouting the phrase “I HAVE THE POWER!” and becomes the last hope for the magical world of Eternia that is being ravaged by the evil and sinister Skeletor.

While the property itself has been around for years, several studios have tried to rectify the Cannon Films 1987 flop that starred Dolph Lungdren as He-Man and Frank Langella as Skeletor, but have had no success and left the project in “development hell” for over a decade.

Rumors suggest that Escape Artists now indeed have a strong script based on one turned in by the writing team of Alex Litvak and Mike Finch. Litvak scripted The Three Musketeers and Five Against A Bullet, and Finch scripted Exclusively Yours. The scribes had once developed the script under the title Grayskull, but with no success it had since gone back to the Mattel brand.

Hopefully this means that the project will finally be underway, and it will get the feel of the movie right. While some feel that the movie John Carter seemed to grasp the idea and look that He-Man would need to be adapted, fans can only hope that where Disney failed, Sony will succeed.