By the power of Greskull, it looks like Mattel is looking to shop the film rights to the story of Prince Adam and his continual battle to protect Castle Greyskull from the evil forces of Skeletor. The Joel Silver produced reboot of the toy-based franchise has been set up at Warner since 2007. Well now it seems the companies have mutually agreed to let Warner's rights lapse, after failing to find a common ground on the film's direction. For those that have lives or good taste in movies and don't know, the He-Man property has been adapted for live action once before by Cannon films in the 1987 "Masters of the Universe". The prospect of a new film has been on the table for quite a while now, but this development seems like it might be a bigger obstacle than both Beastman and Triclopse comin' at ya. For more, raise your magic sword and hit the jump.

Variety is reporting that producer Joel Silver is likely to stick with the project, while it seems that Warner's chosen director, "Kung Fu Panda"'s John Stevenson will leave the project. While its a possibility that this will free up the property from a studio that in the past has been unable to get any comic related property that doesn't have a red cape or pointy ears off the ground, this may be a debilitating blow to the project. Its a shame too, as a well-produced "He-Man and the Masters of the Universe" adaption could be freaking epic and really enjoyable. As long as they keep the main action in Eternia, and we actually see a difference between Prince Adam and He-Man before and after transformations, unlike the '87 film and the subpar previous drafts for the Warner Bros. project.

Let's be honest with ourselves though, pretty much anything will be better than the 1987 flick, with possibly the exception of the always excellent Frank Langella as Skeletor. But yeah, other than that, as long as the main action doesn't consist of He-Man and friends teaming up with a Keebler elf and Monica from "Friends", it will be an improvement. Relations between Mattel and WB are still friendly however, as "Hot Wheels" is still set up there as a film franchise, and I know we're all looking forward to that one...anyone? No?