'Masters of the Universe' Director Shortlist Includes Jeff Wadlow, Mike Cahill, and More

With toy movies all the rage again thanks to The LEGO Movie, Sony Pictures is ramping up their plans to bring He-Man & the Masters of the Universe to the big screen. In the works seemingly forever, the project most recently had Jon M. Chu on board before he split to focus on another toy franchise in GI Joe. Terry Rossio (Pirates of the Caribbean) was brought on to take a crack at the script, and now a new shortlist of potential directors has surfaced.

Variety and The Wrap have revealed the list of candidates to bring He-Man's adventures to the big screen for the first time since the comically awful Dolph Lundgren film. The most interesting name on the list is Mike Cahill, the indie filmmaker best known for working with Brit Marling on Another Earth and his Sundance film, I Origins (which is amazing, by the way). Also on the list are Jeff Wadlow (Kick-Ass 2) and Harald Zwart (The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones), both having flopped hard with major studio efforts last summer. Last on the list is Chris McKay, an interesting choice because he served as an editor on The LEGO Movie and is a key component of Adult Swim's Robot Chicken. Zwart is close with Sony and may be the guy they ultimately turn to despite his recent failures.

Last month's rumor that had Rian Johnson, Phil Lord & Chris Miller, and Joe Cornish listed as candidates was proven to be totally incorrect. Not a surprise given the source.  This one's still a ways off and other directors are being considered

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Three names emerge as contenders to direct 'Fast & Furious 7'

With Justin Lin announcing that Fast & Furious 6 will be his last time at the wheel of the franchise, Universal needs to get moving on finding his replacement quickly. Vin Diesel has said that filming could begin as soon as this summer, with the shortened production schedule a large part of the reason why Lin stepped down. Three names have reportedly emerged as contenders for the sought-after job, and they all come with varying degrees of franchise experience.

Harald Zwart, Brad Furman, and Jeff Wadlow are the three directors said to be in consideration to helm Fast & Furious 7. Wadlow just finished up with Kick-Ass 2 for the studio, and they may have been impressed enough to offer him the keys to one of their most prized vehicles. He's also a director who knows how to put a limited budget to solid use, having directed his slasher horror Cry_Wolf with the $1M prize he won at the Chrysler Million Dollar Film Festival. He may be the most logical choice based on Universal's familiarity with his work.

Zwart has the most franchise experience of all, having directed Agent Cody Banks, The Pink Panther 2, and Jaden Smith in The Karate Kid. He also has The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones due out soon, and if that film is a success he'll likely be called back for a sequel. Furman is the dark horse, having helped Matthew McConaughey's dramatic evolution with The Lincoln Lawyer. There have been rumblings of a sequel to the film, but nothing concrete at this stage. His only real stab at action was with the 2008 armored truck thriller, The Take, which happened to feature Fast and Furious co-star, Tyrese Gibson.

This list isn't final by any means, so there may be others in contention we don't know about. Whatever the case may be, expect an announcement to come down very soon.[Latino Review]

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