Trivia for
Masters of the Universe (1987) More at IMDbPro »

• Much of the movie, including the music store battle and the scenes with the villains marching triumphantly down a street, was filmed in Whittier, California.
  
  
• After the credits, Skeletor's head pops up from the lake and says, "I'll be back!" which sets the stage for a sequel that was never made. However, a script for a "Masters of the Universe" sequel was written, only to be re-written and become the script for the Jean-Claude Van Damme movie Cyborg (1989).
  
  
• Actress Christina Pickles (the Sorceress) plays the mother of Courteney Cox (Julie) on the TV show "Friends" (1994).
  
  
• The character of Gwildor was created to replace Orko from "He-Man and the Masters of the Universe" (1983).
  
  
• Many of the buildings in the downtown areas shown in the film are no longer standing, having been destroyed during major earthquakes in the 1990s.
  
  
• Dolph Lundgren does all his own stunts in the movie.
  
  
• The original idea was to have the film set on Eternia throughout and be much more faithful to the cartoon, but due to budgetary reasons the script was changed to have it set on earth and reduce the amount of sets, and strange characters they would need to create.
  
  
• Sarah Douglas was initially approached to play the part of Evil-Lyn, in an attempt to cash in on her success of playing wicked, evil villainesses in Superman (1978), Superman II (1980) and Conan the Destroyer (1984), but the interest came to nothing and ultimately Meg Foster played the part.
  
  
• Due to financial difficulties, Cannon Cinema made a decision to discontinue all filming 3 days before its scheduled end, leaving the movie in a quandary. All the climactic scenes were completed bar the final battle and resolution between He-Man and Skeletor. After 2 months, the Cannon Cinema executives allowed director 'Gary Goddard' to film the ending in a complete, albeit rushed manner.
  
  
• Dolph Lundgren was the first to be cast in the film and Frank Langella was the last to be cast.
  
  
• Sylvester Stallone was offered the role of He-Man.
  
  
• Mattel, the toy company that produced the original He-Man toys, ran a contest where the winner would get a role in the new He-Man movie. But since the movie was already under the gun to be finished in time and over budget, director 'Gary Goddard' had to squeeze in the contest winner into the shoot. The winner, Richard Szponder, is featured as "Pigboy" who hands Skeletor his staff when he returns from Earth.
  
  
• The original budget of $17 million increased to $22 million and this became Cannon Films' most expensive film.
  
  
• With Gary Goddard, Dolph Lundgren worked some changes from the original script - adding more action sequences, strengthening the role of He-Man and working on the choreography of the battle scenes.
  
  
• Many viewers reviewed the motion picture in comparison to the cartoon, when it really was an adaptation of the toys only (which initially depicted He-Man as a barbarian in the first mini-comics (not Prince Adam or Orko). Ed Pressman was interested in the property before the cartoon was even aired and Filmation had no involvement whatsoever in the film.
  
  
• Director Gary Goddard tried to convince the producers that Matthew Modine would be perfect for the part of He-Man after seeing his performance in Vision Quest (1985), but the producers assumed after the success of Rocky IV (1985), Dolph Lundgren would be the next big action star and went with him instead. In what would have been a similar potential casting disagreement, Goddard had Daryl Hannah in mind for She-Ra in a potential sequel/spin-off (if the first film had been a hit), but the producers first choice was Lundgren's Rocky IV co-star, Brigitte Nielsen.
  
  
• Director Gary Goddard clarified in a letter to John Byrne's 'Next Men #26' that Byrne was correct in his comparison of the film to Jack Kirby's New Gods stories and characters for DC Comics, but the film was also an homage to all of Kirby's Marvel Comics work as well. Goddard had tried to hire Kirby as a conceptual artist, and had also planned to dedicate the film in the closing credits to him, but the studio, Cannon Films, objected to both ideas. Despite one of the studio's other licensed properties in development at the time being Spider-Man, Goddard's vision of a "motion picture comic book" take on the film was met with the studio stance that, "Comics are just for kids."
  
  
• Director Albert Pyun had planned to film a sequel to 'Masters of the Universe' (with professional surfer Laird John Hamilton replacing Dolph Lundgren as He-Man) at the same time as Spider-Man. Right before filming was to begin, Mattel and Marvel revoked the rights to both properties due to non-payment by Cannon Films. Cannon was reaching their end as a company at the time as a result of the 1987 stock market crash on junk bonds (which Cannon had used extensively to finance films) and poor overall financial management. In order to recoup some of the money spent on sets, costumes and props from both intended films, Cannon had Pyun quickly get a script written, Cyborg, for one of Cannon's promising new action stars, Jean-Claude Van Damme; although Pyun had Cannon regular, Chuck Norris, in mind to star at first. There has been some confusion over the years in some TV listings for Cyborg (1989), with it being billed as 'Masters of the Universe 2: Cyborg'. This lead some to speculate that the script for the proposed sequel had been rewritten for Cyborg. In reality it was due to the connection of both productions during the demise of the Cannon Films studio.
  
  
• The reptilian henchman Saurod's throat was made to expand and contract by having the performer, Pons Maar blowing into a tube that ran from his mouth to the throat of his costume.
  
  
• Beastman's prosthetic teeth were so large that performer Tony Carroll was unable to close his mouth when in costume. After a while he would begin to drool, filling his chin-piece with saliva and weighing it down.
  
  
• Production designer William Stout wanted the interior of Castle Greyskull to combine elements of both good and evil: the main throne room where the Sorceress thrown is being adorned with heroic statues while directly below it were bottomless pits and evil gargoyles.
  
  
• For the miniature shots set on earth, the special effects men at Boss Film Studios reused some buildings left over from Blade Runner (1982) and Ghost Busters (1984) to fill out the background.
  
  
• Cannon executives allowed the production seven weeks of additional photography and a $ 7 million overrun on the budget, but still the plug before the climax was in the can. Gary Goddard pleaded with them let him at least finish the final battle and was granted one more day to finish up. Originally, the fight between He-Man and Skeletor was supposed to end with Skeletor falling over the alter and through the big circular window behind it, but this could not be realized as the Castle Greyskull set had already been pulled apart. Therefor they opted to have him fall into a bottomless pit instead.
  
  
• Cannon Films originally had plans to make a Spider-Man movie but opted instead to take the money and split it in two for two other films: Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987) and Masters of the Universe. The plan was to take the profits from both movies and make a large-budget Spider-Man movie. Both movies bombed at the box-office and the Cannon-produced Spider-Man movie never materialized.
  
  
• A "Masters of the Universe" sequel was actually written and cast, but was never filmed. Director Albert Pyun proposed to producers Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus that he would make the sequel and a "Spider-Man" film back to back at De Laurentiis' studio in Wilmington, North Carolina. The sets for the two movies were built, the costumes were made, both films had been fully cast, and the budget for "Masters of the Universe Part 2" was set at $4.5 million. The Mattel toy company also gave their approval to many of the characters that would appear in the sequel. The only known actor cast for the sequel was surfer Laird John Hamilton as He-Man and the only aspect known about the sequel's screenplay was that He-Man would have returned to Earth and was disguised as a professional quarterback. Pyun would also be using the same high school sets for Kevin and Julie later when he would direct "Spider-Man". It is not known, though, if there were any new characters introduced from the "Masters of the Universe" cartoon and/or toy line for the sequel. However, Cannon would be unable to make both the "Masters of the Universe" sequel and "Spider-Man" as Cannon Films would later go out of business.
  
  
• In an alternate introduction scene for Teela, Teela is actually held captive in the dungeons of Snake Mountain, but she escapes and helps several imprisoned resistance fighters outside. This scene was not filmed, but was used in novelizations and was mentioned in the official movie and poster magazine.
  
  
• In a deleted scene, Kevin is actually seated alone in a pizzeria and is testing out the Cosmic Key. When he pushes a button, the Key plays a musical melody and the cups, plates, and pizzas around the pizzeria all float through the air. When the musical melody stops playing, the pizza slices, cups and plates all crash to the ground and in response, Kevin says "Radical." This scene was not filmed, but was used in novelizations and was mentioned in the official movie and poster magazine.
  
  
• At the 1987 Cannes Festival press conference, producer Menahem Golan announced that lead actor Dolph Lundgren was set to reprise his role as He-Man and that he had already signed on for two more movies. However, Lundgren was later fired after he said that playing He-Man was his "lowest point as an actor" in interviews after the release of the first film. Lundgren said that "Masters of the Universe" was a kids' movie and that he couldn't do much as an actor when he was "running around in swim trunks and chest armor". When the time came for Cannon to film a "Masters of the Universe" sequel, Lundgren was unavailable to play He-Man and the actor was unaware of the sequel or that his role had been recast with surfer Laird Hamilton. Despite the recasting, the "Masters of the Universe" sequel ultimately never happened.
  
  
• There were plans for a sequel directed by Albert Pyun, but they collapsed, and the project somehow ended up becoming the movie Cyborg (1989), starring Jean-Claude Van Damme.
  
  

• SPOILER: There is a scene included that is not in the film. After the final battle, the Sorceress shows Man at Arms the ancient artifacts of Castle Grayskull and reveals one of the items as an American flag, meaning that Eternia is actually Earth centuries from now. This was written out of the original script and changed, since Skeletor ultimately finds the Cosmic Key on Earth during the film. However, the alternate ending was used in the official "Masters of the Universe" comic book adaptation of the movie.
  
  

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