Noah Centineo is out at Sony’s Masters of the Universe reboot. In the works for years, the planned live-action movie took a big step forward in 2019 when Centineo was reportedly cast to play the coveted role of He-Man. It was also reported that Aaron and Adam Nee (Band of Robbers) would be writing and directing the feature, but updates have been stagnant since.
Now, per a new report from Collider, Noah Centineo has chosen to walk away from the project. Word is the young actor was close to finalizing his detail to play He-Man, but a representative for Centineo said on Thursday that he has since moved on. It’s not clear if this was due to scheduling issues or a problem with the negotiations, but what’s been reported is that Centineo is no longer the movie’s Prince Adam.
“He is no longer attached to that project,” Centineo’s rep claimed, stopping short of providing a reason.
Who knows what’s gone down behind the scenes between 2019 and now, but Centineo appeared to be rather stoked back then when speaking about his casting as He-Man. In an interview on The Tonight Show at the time, the actor said he was “very excited” about the role, going on to call it “quite an opportunity.” Of the character’s unique look, Centineo also joked that he has “an affinity for being in my underwear,” also referring to Calvin Klein ads featuring the actor in boxer briefs.
The Masters of the Universe movie is based on the original Mattel toy line and its subsequent 1987 movie adaptation. Directed by Gary Goddard, the classic movie featured Dolph Lundgren as He-Man and Frank Langella as Skeletor. Courteney Cox, Barry Livingston, Meg Foster, and James Tolkan also starred. Unfortunately, the movie didn’t do too well at the box office at the time, and critics were not very kind to Masters of the Universe either. Still, the movie has gone on to become a cult classic in the years since its original release.
Masters of the Universe just wasn’t in the cards for Centineo, but the 24-year-old is keeping busy with other blockbuster roles. He is currently working on the upcoming superhero movie Black Adam for Warner Bros., which is now in production in Atlanta. In the movie, Centineo will play Atom Smasher, a superhero that’s a part of the Justice Society of America alongside Black Adam (Dwayne Johnson), Hawkman (Aldis Hodge), Cyclone (Quintessa Swindell), and Doctor Fate (Pierce Brosnan). Black Adam will be released on July 29, 2022.
Meanwhile, Centineo is also set to star in a GameStop movie for Netflix from Mark Boal as well as an untitled CIA spy thriller series from executive producer Doug Liman. As for Masters of the Universe, the movie still doesn’t have a new official release date set at Sony. It was previously set to be released on March 5 before delays pushed back the project, and this comes after years of the project rolling around in development hell with various filmmakers attached. This news comes to us from Collider.