Warner Bros. and Silver Pictures have hired Evan Daugherty to write the latest draft of “Grayskull”, the a big-screen take on the classic “He-Man and the Masters of the Universe” franchise of toys and cartoons. John Stevenson (“Kung Fu Panda”) is attached to direct. A previous draft was written by Justin Marks. According to a report from The Hollywood Reporter, the studio is hoping to re-imagine the magical fantasy-based franchise as a “gritty fantasy” and reimagine Prince Adam, aka He-Man, as a soldier who finds himself in the otherworldly realm of Eternia. There, he ends up finding his destiny and fighting the warlord Skeletor, who has raised a technological army…

Variety.com reported today that producer Joel Silver (Die Hard, The Matrix) together with Warner Brothers plan to make the “He-Man and the Masters of the Universe” live action film. The original 1987 He-man film entitled “Masters of the Universe” was directed by Gary Goddard and starred Dolph Lundgren and Frank Langella as Skeletor. The new He-man is being reimagined by writer Justin Marks (Voltron) and the producers as a good-vs-evil battle, using “300″ like visual effects.