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Poster for Masters of the Universe
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Released
1987 · FILM

Masters of the Universe

He‑Man battles the sorcerous tyrant Skeletor, racing to reclaim a cosmic key that could grant godlike power and save both Eternia and Earth from total domination.

“A battle fought in the stars...now comes to Earth.”

Directed by
Gary Goddard
Written by
David Odell
Rated
MPA · PG
Runtime
106 min
ActionAdventureFantasy

Synopsis

When the villain Skeletor discovers a mysterious power known as the Cosmic Key, he becomes nearly unstoppable, capturing Castle Grayskull and the surrounding city. The Sorceress is taken prisoner by Skeletor, who begins to drain her life force while waiting for the moon of Eternia to align with the Great Eye of the Universe, an event that will grant him god-like power. Meanwhile, the brave warrior He-Man seeks out Gwildor, the locksmith inventor who created the Key and possesses another version of it. During a battle, one of the Keys is transported to Earth, where it is discovered by teenagers Julie and Kevin. Soon after, both He-Man and Skeletor's forces arrive on Earth in pursuit of the powerful artifact.

Credits

Actors
Editor
Production Designer
Director of Photography
Writers
Director

Related titles

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How many hands made this film

The scale of the collaboration

Principal cast & crew: 31

These are the principals we have on file — the full crew ran to the hundreds. Every film this size was made by far more hands than any credits list ever names.

Why a floor?

This is a minimum, not a total. We only count the credits we’ve captured so far, and coverage is uneven — a blockbuster might show a few hundred names while another of the same size shows a couple dozen. The real crews all ran into the thousands. The number here only grows as full credits are enriched — so we frame it as a floor, never a headcount.

Craft leads on file

Edited by Anne V CoatesShot by Hanania BaerScored by Bill ContiDesigned by William Stout

Box Office

1987 · Box office

📉 Underperformed — grossed 0.8× its budget

Why 2.5×?

Cinemas keep roughly half of every ticket sold, and a wide release’s marketing often costs about as much again as the film — so a movie needs to gross around 2.5× its production budget just to break even theatrically. It’s a rule of thumb, not the studio’s ledger (home video and streaming come later).

Worldwide gross

$17.3M

Budget$22.0M
Worldwide gross$17.3M
break-even (2.5×)

Also known as

  • Les Maîtres de l'Universfr
  • I dominatori dell'universoit

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