Masters of the Universe is opening next Friday 5 June with blockbuster ambitions. It’s been reported that the budget for this movie was between $170-$200 million so it needs to have a strong first weekend and/or strong word of mouth in its subsequent weekends.

As Sarah posted when the trailer was released, this is supposed to be a silly and fun summer movie, and it would seem going by the promotional videos that the marketing team understands this. That said, as of two weeks ago, it was projected to open soft, somewhere between $25-35 million. This, however, was before the film screened and there was some encouraging early reaction.

We’ll have to see whether or not that positivity holds when the review embargo is lifted. But there is definitely an audience for this story, people who grew up with it in the 80s and are coming in with both expectation and nostalgia.

The two leads of the movie, Nicholas Galitzine and Camila Mendes, have been on the press tour now for the last couple of weeks. Today they were in London, Camila in a white fitted dress, belt straps around the shoulders, and I really like her hair this length. Camila is a big part of this, by the way, both in her performance and also her reach. She has 22.5 million followers on Instagram, don’t think the studio marketing team doesn’t know this.

As for Nicholas, he comes with his own fanbase, from Red, White & Royal Blue, of course, and also The Idea of You, maybe with a side of Purple Hearts (I hate that movie but I also hate-watched it so who’s the real loser?). Masters of the Universe is arguably his most ambitious project in terms of scale, as he is He-Man, with all that glorious hair.

Can He-Man go on to be James Bond?

I’m asking because a couple of years ago his name started popping up in the speculation and there was some fan casting happening too. He’s not among the frontrunners on the most current list of rumoured possible Bonds, but it’s not impossible. Like if they’re looking for British actors no older than 35 (considering whoever is the new Bond will be in the role for at minimum 15 years if not more), I can’t imagine he would be left out of the conversation.

If we’re talking about frontrunners, though, Variety reported last week that Tom Francis auditioned for the role. He’s most known for his work in theatre and people are in the comments of his Met Gala post talking about how he looks the part.

It’s giving Jeremy Allen White but British, and tall. I can see it, much more than I can see Jacob Elordi who is also one of the frontrunners, alongside Callum Turner and Aaron Taylor Johnson. To go back to Nicholas, though, I just think it would be funny for an actor to be He-Man and all his ridiculous one day and then switch over to 007.

Nicholas Galitzine and Camila Mendes at BBC Studios in London, May 27, 2026

Photo credits: Mattpapz/BACKGRID

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