Anyone else worried by the new MOTU movie?

[jdscissorhands]

I don't know about you but I've been dreaming about a MOTU film(s) for a while now. Since the Lord of the Rings trilogy, I've even been thinking about such trilogy set in the MOTU world, each movie focussing on a big bad (Skeletor, Hiss and Hordak) and introducing characters and their powers a la XMen. I believe that the MOTU mythos could easily span on such trilogy and could appeal to every generation... Still, I'm a bit worried by all the recent news regarding a MOTU film. It seems like the studio behind it want their own GIJoe or Transformers movies! GIJoe director?
MOTU should be done in the wake or LOTR or to a lesser extent in the wake of the Narnia or X Men movies. I personally don't want another Transformers or GIJoe movie...
What are your thoughts?

[Eternian-King Paul]

Story is very important.
Also colour scheme and character structure and music.

..although most of this is subject to ethical oposition, as in, what people on the left think is good and what is right.

Chances are, hollywood will screw this up.
They are not trying to make a good movie for people to see, in a quality ellete world.
Hollywood is just trying to put butts in chairs.
Most of it will be sent to a second party digital bit-mapped animation company, and only 20% will actualy be shot as live action by a director that hasnt seen the script until a week before shooting.

Sad... but true. 'Metallica'

[Divia]

They wont please everyone. Bottom line is fanboys need to step back and breath. Hollywood needs to make a blockbuster and they need to figure out how to take a 1980s campy toy that has gotten a lot of ridicule through the years into a hard action fantasy film.

I'll past judgement until we get more information.

[skelethon]

They wont please everyone. Bottom line is fanboys need to step back and breath. Hollywood needs to make a blockbuster and they need to figure out how to take a 1980s campy toy that has gotten a lot of ridicule through the years into a hard action fantasy film.

I agree with half of this. Yes, fanboys will need to take a deep breath and step back and not freak out. But unless I'm misinterpretting your meaning, I don't want MOTU to be a "hard action fantasy film."

It should have some really great and intense action and battle scenes, yes. But it should still be a fun, light adventure movie with bits of comedy and romance mixed in with the action. It should appeal to 4 year olds and 40 year olds. If you want "hard action" there's already plenty of that elsewhere, MOTU has never been about hard action. Besides, we want our kids to get into MOTU so it has to be kid friendly!

[JonWes]

I'm pretty sure every MOTU fan is probably worried on some level about the movie. Since the movie has been in development for so long, I feel I've started to mentally prepare myself for it to be very different and possibly not very good by my standards. So by the time it comes out I hope to be pleasantly surprised. We know so little about it to really even start to make any judgements. I'm just glad they rejected the earlier Justin Marks script. I hope they go down a road that's a BIT more faithful. Once we hear casting and see some design work, I'm sure there will be MUCH more to either celebrate or worry about.

[TheFallen]

I am not worried at all. No matter how the movie turns out I can at least take solace in the fact that it will open up the property to other things, namely a new cartoon series.

It is certainly history repeating though. I was in the twilight of my MOTU toy buying when the first movie came out and it might be the same with MOTUC and this movie (only if the line is declining like it is, not because I won't be collecting it).

Exciting times, nonetheless.

[King Tycho]

I don't think Mark's script was terrible. Sure, it had some problems, but for a first draft it had loads of potential.

[Krueger]

I’m not really worried that much at all. I’m too excited to do that. If it turns out that they’re going to turn Adam into a little kid from Kentucky who gets sucked into a dimensional warp gate and finds himself in a magical kingdom called Eternia who, once there, finds himself in the body of a full grown man known as “He-Man”, who has been prophesised to rescue a princess called Teela from the clutches of an evil wizard called Skeletor, who’s actually just a really tall and skinny man wearing a skull-like mask who’s getting his own back on society because he was bullied as a child.

Then I’ll get worried.

Until then, I’ll continue to be excited. I do agree that some of the more die-hard fans need to take a step back and allow a new beginning to be ushered in. This is potentially the biggest thing to ever happen to the brand. This could be the turning point when MOTU is thrust back into the mainstream. That will truly be a huge event and will spell a very bright future for MOTU.

[Divia]

I agree with half of this. Yes, fanboys will need to take a deep breath and step back and not freak out. But unless I'm misinterpretting your meaning, I don't want MOTU to be a "hard action fantasy film."

It should have some really great and intense action and battle scenes, yes. But it should still be a fun, light adventure movie with bits of comedy and romance mixed in with the action. It should appeal to 4 year olds and 40 year olds. If you want "hard action" there's already plenty of that elsewhere, MOTU has never been about hard action. Besides, we want our kids to get into MOTU so it has to be kid friendly!

I wouldnt mind an R movie, but it will never happen pg 13 I think is as low as they should go. No PG stuff and I"m sorry but I dont want a kid movie. I also agree that it needs to appeal to a lot of people, this includes the world outside the .org. 4,000 members will not a blockbuster make. So of course they are going to have to tape into other fans.

When you say "light" I think kiddish. And thats not what I really want.

[skelethon]

@Divia

Sorry, but it's going to have to be PG, no higher. They're going to need to sell this to kids, and there's of course going to be toys and cross promotions that will be sold and marketed to kids. And really that's a good thing. If the film is good enough, if the toys are cool, if there's a video game tie-in, and kids really buy into it, we could see a full on MOTU revival.

Look at Star Wars. I know that most of us that grew up on the originals don't like the prequels all that much. But like it or not, those new films revived the brand, got a new generation hooked on it and now go into any toy store and look at all the action figures, legos, clothes, etc. It also got a new animated series kick-started that seems to be going really well.

My point is, Mattel doesn't want a MOTU movie aimed at and solely intended for an adult crowd. If you really want to make the big bucks, you have to sell to the kids. That doesn't mean it's going to be bad, just that it won't be a balls out actioner. I'm actually thinking the tone of the film could be similar to The Phantom Menace, or maybe Percy Jackson. If it's a hit and they get to do sequels, maybe the finale could go up a notch and go for a PG13, but we'll see.

Now, if they go with Chu, I don't know what to expect given his Step Up movies and GIJoe 2 are PG13. Those are different animals though. Step Up is sold to the tween crowd anyway, and Joe is what it is. Mattel is going to oversee this and Chu will have to make the movie that Mattel and Sony want him to make so it almost doesn't matter what Chu has done in the past.

Not trying to argue, just saying that fans have to get their expectations in check. If they make this, it's going to be a kid-friendly movie.

[Count Judas]

I just don't want it to look like a Uwe Boll movie (In the Name of the King) horrible! or like last year's Conan movie, double horrible! I know that realistically it won't be like LOTR, but I do hope it feels much closer to it, especially with the dialogue. I hope it is not a modern sounding one (back to Conan)..Something with the feel and tone of Thor (Asgard scenes) and not Hercules Legendary Journey (which I really liked, campy and fun, back in the 90s). MOTU should be a great blend of fun, action, story and effects without the moldy cheese (G.I. Joe: RoC)

[King Tycho]

The big thing it needs to do different from LOTR is color. MOTU needs much more vibrant and varied colors then the mostly earth tone pallet that LOTR had.

[Beastman83]

What about Eternia itself? What should it look like? I hope it looks mostly like Earth, instead of the world of Dr. Seuss used in the Filmation series.

[Devil Master]

I'm worried that it might be campy and reek of HEYYEYAAEYAAAEYAEYAA, or that it might not be made at all.

[Divia]

PG 13 can be kid friendly, tween friendly. The Dark Knight Rises is pg 13 and people have no problems bringing 7 year olds to that movie. PG 13 would be a happy medium. Its not too kid campy and its not hardcore enough to scare away the 13 year olds.

[King Tycho]

What about Eternia itself? What should it look like? I hope it looks mostly like Earth, instead of the world of Dr. Seuss used in the Filmation series.

Sorry Beastman83, but I have to respectfully disagree. While the tone may be a bit too campy and kiddy, I think visually the filmation series should be the foundation to build the film on. That is probably the most well known rendition already, and it's influence is still felt in every other iteration. Taking that as a starting point, they should be able to build a really colorful, really alien, land of wonder, that would suit MOTU perfectly, and at the same time, set it apart from everything else so it can be its own thing.

[Beastman83]

I just always thought it was kind of weird that a planet that could produce 'humans' like Earth would be so drastically different from Earth in every other way. That was one of the things I loved about the MYP series, the world felt real.

[Krueger]

It will probably be PG-13 in the US. That seems to be the most commercially viable age rating nowadays. A PG may turn a lot of “tweens” away, thinking it to be too childish, as well as some adults. If you actually look at all the summer blockbusters that are released now, they are virtually all PG-13. It’s the most “money-friendly” rating there is and that’s why the studios love it.

[Elskidor]

@Divia

Sorry, but it's going to have to be PG, no higher.

You lost me right there. There is no way this won't be PG-13, unless they really aren't worried about it flopping or not. PG-13 is the perfect medium to attract people of all ages, and this should be done closer to the LoTR films, which have a little something for everyone in them, but not too kiddie and not too hardcore.

[Piccolo Daimaoh]

Not worried as long as it's done by either Marvel Studios, Christopher Nolan, Zack Snyder, Guillermo del Toro, Peter Jackson or Kenneth Branagh. With talent like that out there making movies MOTU just needs to get one of them to make their movie. No worries at all.

[King Tycho]

Not worried as long as it's done by either Marvel Studios, Christopher Nolan, Zack Snyder, Guillermo del Toro, Peter Jackson or Kenneth Branagh. With talent like that out there making movies MOTU just needs to get one of them to make their movie. No worries at all.

Riiiiiiiiiight.

[Eternian-King Paul]

although I tend to think that CG animation companies should get director credits if they make 80% of the movie anways)

[PrinceAdam26]

I am slightly worried.

All He-Fans are likely to be in some minor or major form. The speculations, the scripts, the nostalgic interviews have been flying all over the place. With my hugest kudos going to Lundgren and Langella for being so openly gracious about their earlier roles in this now classic film. But of the things I just absolutely hated was that the only places on Eternia we saw was exactly like the Earth that He-Man and pals traveled to. Eternia has to look different than Earth. It doesn't have to look exactly like the Filmation environments that were created, but at least some fantastical deviation has to occur here.

I totally agree that there has to be a blend of things when it comes to this newest He-Film. Action, adventure, sci-fi, mild humor, most of the aspects that drew us as kids to the cartoon and the Lundgren/Langella film, should be present here. But also with enough newer additions to sate the interest of the younger newly coming He-Fans. It would be cool if we saw both Dolph and Frank in roles that would act as a passing of their torch here. I know I may have said this before on the subject, but it's an often recurring event that somebody in the older film appears in the remake as if to say "Hi, I approve of this. Go for it." Even though at least 4 times out of 10 remakes the actors very blindly approved of the disaster that occurred.

I do not want to see that happen with this new film, so I will have just enough faith that this will be the movie that rocks it for remake season.

[Krueger]

Not worried as long as it's done by either Marvel Studios, Christopher Nolan, Zack Snyder, Guillermo del Toro, Peter Jackson or Kenneth Branagh. With talent like that out there making movies MOTU just needs to get one of them to make their movie. No worries at all.

I think someone's setting themselves up for one hell of a fall.

[wolfsfang]

Nope not worried.

It will either be good or it will be bad. Not much we can do about it either way so I see no reason to worry about it