We have learned that (formerly) Sony’s ‘Masters of the Universe’ film will now be developed and distributed by Netflix. The film is currently projected for a late 2021-early 2022 release.
The Hollywood Reporter stated in September 2019 that Sony Pictures studio chairman Tom Rothman was “exploring the prospect of getting risk-free cash for the pricey project by making it for Netflix instead.” They added that talks were “preliminary”. Sources say that the production budget for ‘Masters of the Universe’ is currently aimed to be around $130M, it is unknown if this figure has changed given the recent shifts with the film however, once marketing and other costs are counted outside of the production budget, this film would have been a pricey bet for Sony Pictures. And despite Sony’s recent box office successes with ‘Little Women’, ‘Jumanji: The Next Level’ and ‘Spider-Man: Far From Home’, a risk of a high-budget ‘Masters of the Universe’ film could have been far too costly for the studio to release theatrically.
As of now, it is currently unknown what involvement Sony has with this project now but it is likely that we will discover in the coming months whether Sony has officially backed out of the project entirely or if they are still involved in some capacity.