Travis Knight has revealed that Amazon valued Masters of the Universe’s streaming future more than its theatrical prospects. For a franchise built around one of the most recognizable toy brands of the 1980s, the cinema release was meant to be a long-awaited big-screen comeback. Instead, the reboot stumbled in theatres before finding a much larger audience at home.

The film’s contrasting fortunes have turned Amazon’s release strategy into part of the story, one that the He-Man theatrical advocate, Travis Knight, does not agree with all that much. 

The 2026 He-Man reboot, Masters of the Universe, earned about $114 million worldwide against a reported $200 million production budget, before marketing costs. Yet it found momentum once dropped on Prime Video: a measured 1.17 billion minutes watched during its first streaming week, according to Nielsen, placing it No. 1 among US streaming titles. It makes one ask if the audience was, after all, curious, just not convinced enough to take to the theaters for it, and whether this effect was actually planned all along. 

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Travis Knight addressed this supposed strategy by Amazon, saying they surprised him.

“Its life on streaming was much more important to them than in theaters,” he revealed.

“It’s not something I understood going into it. I wanted their faith in us as filmmakers and in the movie to be rewarded in a way that wasn’t to my hopes and expectations," Knight expressed, admitting to THR that he has now accepted the film's fate, despite the sting. 

Knight's disappointment reflects the widening divide between theatrical performance and streaming value. A film can struggle to justify its budget at the box office yet still find commercial value on a streaming platform.

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A strong streaming debut can keep a film alive at home, but it cannot retroactively turn cinema attendance into a success. That split matters for studios beyond one film.

Travis Knight’s much awaited He-Man reboot stars Nicholas Galitzine as Prince Adam, who returns to Eternia to face Skeletor, played by Jared Leto. Right off the bat, the project spent years in development, passing between studios before Amazon MGM revived it in 2024. Its elaborate fantasy world demanded a sizeable budget, making the reported $170-$200 million production cost a heavy bet for a property whose nostalgia was strongest only among older fans.

And while banking on nostalgia has become a go-to tactic, the needle skewed more toward an older audience, raising questions about whether the reboot even attempted to reach the younger, thriving batch moviegoers. Reviews also questioned its blend of self-aware humor and earnest fantasy, while competition left little room to build momentum.

Nielsen’s numbers suggest many were willing to try He-Man at home. But the gap between clicking play and buying a ticket is the point: Amazon gained a streaming title, while Knight had hoped to deliver a theatrical event.

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Where did you watch Masters of the Universe? Let us know in the comments.