Filmmaker Travis Knight is pulling double director duty in 2026 with not one, but two movies hitting the big screen this year — “Masters of the Universe” later this month and “Wildwood” to follow in October.
And while both films have coincidentally been in development for roughly 15 years, the Laika CEO admitted there’s really no comparison when it comes to the difficulty of live-action versus stop-motion.
“They’re both hard. Now, the reality is, there’s no comparison; stop-motion is absolutely the hardest, worst way to make a movie … but I love it. And I’ve loved it since I was a kid, which is why I’ve devoted, essentially, my life’s work to doing it,” Knight told TheWrap at last month’s He-Man premiere in Hollywood. “‘Wildwood,’ I’ve spent 16 years making that movie and it’s finally going to come out and I could not be more proud. It’s crazy happenstance that it comes out the same year we’ve done this movie.”
“Wildwood” will mark Laika’s first feature film in seven years since 2019’s “Missing Link,” for the independent animation studio that also gave audiences “Coraline,” “ParaNorman,” “The Boxtrolls” and “Kubo and the Two Strings.”
Meanwhile, Mattel’s new “Masters of the Universe” was first announced in September 2009 following Dolph Lundgren’s 1987 movie of the same name.
“I grew up with this stuff. I’m a child of the ’80s, so I watched those cartoons, I played with the toys, I read the comics. It’s so weird to be here, having been at the center of bringing this world to life in a new way, cinematically,” Knight shared. “I’m also incredibly proud, because everyone poured all they had into the movie. I think the movie has tremendous heart, it’s a ton of fun, it’s got great action. I can’t wait for people to see it.”
“I go back to the beginning. There was something about He-Man that was unique,” he added of Nicholas Galitzine’s character. “In this era of big, muscular masculine dudes, He-Man always stressed empathy and kindness and connection; trying to build common ground between yourself and someone who doesn’t agree with you. I think that has stood the test of time. That is probably more important now than it was in 1983.”
“Masters of the Universe” conquers theaters on June 5, with “Wildwood” to follow on Oct. 23.
