With only a month left before it hits theaters, the long-awaited, long-gestating reboot of the beloved 80s franchise Masters of the Universe will hit the big screen, with the newly revealed runtime promising a nostalgic action fantasy epic. Not only that, but the runtime comes with a twist, which could confirm that the movie will differ depending on where you watch it.
Anticipation surrounding Masters of the Universe is palpable, with ParaNorman and Bumblebee director Travis Knight taking the helm and working from a script written by Knight’s long-time collaborator, Chris Butler (ParaNorman, Kubo and the Two Strings). The script itself is reportedly based on the initial draft penned by David Callaham and Aaron and Adam Nee, which was in development for Netflix but was ultimately canceled after the streamer spent a reported $30 million on the project.
After years of back and forth, a recast lead, and shifting studios, the live-action Masters of the Universe reboot will finally debut in theaters on June 5, 2026, courtesy of Amazon MGM Studios, with the runtime revealing that it will have been worth the wait. At least in length.
According to the movie’s listing on Regal, Masters of the Universe will clock in at an epic 2 hours and 20 minutes, while AMC states that the action fantasy adventure will be a slightly shorter, yet still lengthy, 2 hours and 13 minutes. While unconfirmed by the studio, this could suggest that Masters of the Universe will play out slightly differently depending on which region you’re watching it in. Either way, Masters of the Universe should have plenty of time to reintroduce the world of Eternia and the battle being waged between He-Man and Skeletor. This also makes the reboot far longer than its 1987 live-action predecessor, which only ran for 1 hour and 46 minutes.
Red, White & Royal Blue, Purple Hearts, and The Idea of You star Nicholas Galitzine will take the lead and portray the ‘80s icon Prince Adam, aka He-Man for Amazon MGM Studios and Mattel’s Masters of the Universe, with the rest of the stacked cast including a host of familiar faces playing recognizable characters. Recognizable to those of a certain generation, anyway. Alongside Galitzine as He-Man, the cast counts Jared Leto as Skeletor, Camila Mendes as Teela, Alison Brie as Evil-Lyn, and Idris Elba as Man-At-Arms among its ranks.
The reboot takes the opposite approach to the 1987 adaptation. Instead of bringing He-Man into the real-world, Adam instead finds himself already here and living out a mundane life before the Sword of Power leads him back to Eternia, where he discovers his home shattered under the fiendish rule of Skeletor and must reclaim his destiny. While we wait to see how well Masters of the Universe uses such an extended runtime, rumors of a sequel are already running rife.
- Release Date
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June 5, 2026
- Director
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Travis Knight
- Writers
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Chris Butler
This story originally appeared on Movieweb
