According to new reports, Amazon MGM paid Jared Leto more than $5 million to play Skeletor in its $175 million Masters of the Universe reboot movie. So, why has he not been in a single interview? Why has he been almost invisible in the trailers? And why was his voice swapped out in the toy merch?
Leto skipped the Masters of the Universe premiere on Monday, May 19th. He also wasn’t seen at CinemaCon. And to date, he hasn’t even shared a single post regarding the film to his 11.4 million Instagram followers. Something is up, right? A studio wouldn’t spend so much on a blockbuster and then keep its biggest name away from the press.
Well, according to Puck, a source close to the production says Leto “wasn’t thrilled with the film.” Amazon declined to comment and Leto’s rep didn’t respond either.
But, of course, everyone knows there is another layer to this. Leto hasn’t had a very good run at the box office in recent years. In fact, some are calling him box office poison right now. Tron: Ares bombed. Morbius bombed. House of Gucci bombed. You get the picture. There are a ton of memes on social media that back up the argument.
Could Amazon MGM be distancing him from the He-Man film in hopes that nobody will realize that he’s in it?
A few weeks ago, we reported that you could hear his voice in the new Skeletor mask for kids. But as many pointed out, this is probably another actor voicing the merch. But why would Mattel replace the actor’s voice on the toy with an unknown?
The irony is that Leto is already unrecognisable behind the CGI as Skeletor. He’s probably just a voice here. There’s no confirmation that he was actually in the suit on set, especially since his face is just a skeleton here. So, having Leto go around to promote the character would have been a great way to push the character.
The other thing to consider is that fans seem split over Leto’s Skeletor voice. Some believe it’s menacing and creepy, while others prefer the voice from the original ’90s cartoons. There were plenty of comparisons to Tom Hardy’s Bane from The Dark Knight Rises online. That isn’t a bad thing necessarily, but, to purists, it felt wrong.
According to IMDB, the 54-year-old Oscar winner has two other films in production, but none of them should have caused scheduling conflicts with promoting the Masters of the Universe reboot movie. The $175 million film starring him opens in two weeks, with his face nowhere near the marketing. Did Amazon MGM just pay $5 million to just use Jared Leto’s “unrecognizable” voice?
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” But why would Mattel replace the actor’s voice on the toy with an unknown? ”
This is extremely common in the toy industry, it has to do with royalties versus a lump sum job payment to a sound alike. Every Toy Story talking Woody Doll is actually voiced by his brother.