The curse of the Masters of the Universe movie continues and Sony Pictures' He-Man movie is on the hunt for a director yet again. Blade: Trinity helmer and DCEU scribe David S. Goyer had been in talks with the studio to direct the Masters of the Universe movie, but Variety reports that the filmmaker and screenwriter dropped out of conversations due to other commitments.

The live-action adaptation of the popular fantasy adventure cartoon has been in development for years now, with plenty of fumbles along the way. Warner Bros. dropped the property in 2009, when Sony picked it up and recruited Kung Fu Panda director John Stevenson. Next up was G.I. Joe: Retaliation filmmaker Jon M. Chu. After that iteration of the film fell apart and Sony put the script through a series of rewrites until The Babysitter helmer McG came on board. Rinse, repeat. McG dropped off the project, Sony brought on Goyer to take over scripting duties and reportedly turned in a draft that thrilled the studio so much they hoped to convince him to takin directing duties as well.

Goyer is poised to stay involved with Masters of the Universe as screenwriter and executive producer, but the filmmaker is currently hard at work on Foundation, a mini-series adaptation of Isaac Asimov's seminal science-fiction trilogy. Goyer won't be able to juggle both projects, especially since Sony announced a December 18, 2019 release date for Masters of the Universe. Variety notes that before Goyer dropped off the project, Sony was getting ready to talk to actors and they're currently meeting with other candidates for the directing gig in the hopes of making the 2019 release date.

It will be interesting to see who the studio sets their sights on next for the long-developed project. So far, the throughline between their preferred directors has been a shared filmography of crowd-pleasing popcorn cinema, so it seems that's the avenue they have in mind for the film -- fitting for a mythical fantasy inspired by a Mattel toy line and nostalgic children's cartoon.