Nicholas Galitzine to play He-Man in Master of the Universe Movie from Amazon MGM

Nicholas Galitzine, fresh off the well-reviewed rom-com ‘Idea of You’ has been cast as He-Man, the blond barbarian who was inspired by the popular Mattel toy in the upcoming film adaptation of ‘Masters of the Universe’.

Travis Knight, director of ‘Bumblebee’ will direct the feature for Amazon MGM Studios and Mattel. 

The film, which has been long delayed and passed around different studios, has a current theatrical release date of June 5, 2026.   

Warner Bros. Discovery first set up the project nearly two decades ago, but then moved to Netflix, who then shut down development of the film after budget concerns. 

The film has cycled through many different directors, including ‘Kung Fu Panda’ filmmaker John Stevenson, ‘Wicked’ helmer Jon M. Chu, ‘Charlie’s Angels’ filmmaker McG and ‘The Lost City’ duo Aaron and Adam Nee.

Nicholas Galitzine isn’t the first actor to be attached to the role of He-Man, as ‘West Side Story’ actor Kyle Allen was at one point in talks to play the character. 

Chris Butler is writing the screenplay after David Callaham and the Nee brothers took an initial attempt at the script. 

According to a prior synopsis, the film follows Prince Adam a.k.a. He-Man, who crashes to Earth in a spaceship as a child and, decades later, returns to his home planet to defend it from the evil forces led by Skeletor. 

To defeat the powerful villain, Prince Adam needs to uncover the mysteries of his past and become He-Man, referred to in this world as “the most powerful man in the universe.”

“We’re thrilled to bring the beloved ‘Masters of the Universe’ to life and couldn’t be more excited to announce the immensely talented Nicholas Galitzine as our He-Man,” said Julie Rapaport, head of film production and development at Amazon MGM Studios.

“This reintroduction of the character and his universe will be an epic film that will delight audiences from here to Eternia.”

Mattel has several films based on their toy properties indevelopment after the success of ‘Barbie’, including one based on the card game Uno.