Masters Of The Universe Film Starring Noah Centineo Lands 2021 Release Date

A battle fought in the stars is coming to Earth — and now we know exactly when. 

Sony Pictures has officially stamped its forthcoming Masters of the Universe film, which stars To All the Boys I've Loved Before and Sierra Burgess Is a Loser actor Noah Centineo, with a spring 2021 release date. Per Variety, the fantasy adventure flick based on the Mattel media franchise of the same name will touch down in theaters on March 5, 2021. 

Centineo leads Masters of the Universe as the man who holds the universe together: He-Man. The superhero (and super-secret) alter ego of Prince Adam of Eternia, He-Man is the strongest man in the known world and the central character of Mattel's IP. He's so popular, in fact, that the Masters of the Universe franchise is often simply referred to as He-Man. 

The core story of the in-development film and the Mattel property sees He-Man and his companions — including his faithful feline friend Battle Cat (also known as Cringer), his loyal confidante and ally Man-At-Arms, his battle trainer and the Captain of the Royal Guard Teela, the Sorceress, and the Trollan magician Orko — band together to protect Eternia and Castle Grayskull from the nefarious Skeletor. He-Man not only has his trusted friends at his side, but he also has the mystical Power Sword, which grants him the ability to transform from Prince Adam into his formidable warrior form. 

The Centineo-starring Masters of the Universe film is far from the first project to adapt the Mattel toyline that launched in 1982. An animated television series entitled He-Man and the Masters of the Universe ran from 1983 to 1985, and was followed up by the 1985 flick He-Man and She-Ra: The Secret of the Sword, which featured both He-Man and his sister She-Ra, the alter ego of Princess Adora. Then came the animated show She-Ra: Princess of Power and the live-action Masters of the Universe film. Directed by Gary Goddard and released in August of 1987, the pic featured Dolph Lundgren as He-Man, Frank Langella as Skeletor, Christina Pickles as the Sorceress, Chelsea Field as Teela, and Jon Cypher as Man-At-Arms. 

With an early March 2021 release date, Masters of the Universe will go up against 20th Century Fox's Nimona, the animated feature film adaptation of Noelle Stevenson's fantasy webcomic. Nimona, directed by Academy Award-winning filmmaker Patrick Osborne, opens on the very same day as Masters of the Universe, which would cause tension at the box office if it weren't for the fact that Masters of the Universe is a property with worldwide name recognition. The film should have little trouble winning the weekend of March 5, 2021, though it will likely concede the top spot to the yet-untitled live-action Disney movie slated for release the following week on March 12, 2021. 

Masters of the Universe is a huge project for Centineo, who only recently gained global fame with his starring roles in back-to-back-to-back romantic comedies released on Netflix. First there was his attention-grabbing turn as the boy-next-door Peter Kavinsky in To All the Boys I've Loved Before, then came his performance as Jamey in Sierra Burgess Is a Loser. Centineo followed those two films up with another movie in the same genre: Netflix's The Perfect Date, in which he starred as Brooks Rattigan. Obviously, He-Man is a far cry from the type of characters Centineo has gotten used to playing (and plays well, we might add), so he has a lot to prove to the world. He's young and bright-eyed and evidently eager, so hopefully Centineo can channel his youthful excitement into something special and do everyone proud as the new silver-screen He-Man. 

Working from a polished-up script by Iron Man scribes Matt Holloway and Art Marcum, Aaron and Adam Nee direct Masters of the Universe. David S. Goyer, who wrote a previous version of the script, serves as executive producer. 

Look out for Masters of the Universe in theaters on March 5, 2021.