Camila Mendes shared a behind-the-scenes TikTok from the set of Masters of the Universe that shows the cast breaking into a relaxed dance to the song “What’s Up,” a moment circulating as the film approaches its U.S. release on June 5, 2026. Mendes uploaded the clip to her TikTok account, and it captures Nicholas Galitzine, Alison Brie, Idris Elba and other cast members in an off-camera beat during production.
The footage matters because it puts faces and tone in front of an audience days after the film held its premiere at the TCL Chinese Theatre on May 18. Mendes plays Teela in the live-action adaptation; Galitzine plays Prince Adam. The film, directed by Travis Knight and written by Chris Butler, Aaron Nee, Adam Nee and David Callaham, was shot in London between January and June 2025 and is being distributed internationally by Sony Pictures Releasing International.
Masters of the Universe is a new live-action take on the classic Mattel franchise, and the project moved forward under Amazon MGM Studios after a long development process; this picture is the second live-action adaptation of the franchise following the 1987 film. That pedigree and the production credits set the expectation of a big, effects-driven fantasy picture — which is why the short TikTok clip landed like an unexpected aside.
The contrast is the story’s friction. The movie has been positioned as a large-scale fantasy action project, yet the video shows the cast in a relaxed dance break rather than an intense scene: Galitzine, Mendes, Brie, Elba and others casually moving to “What’s Up” between takes. The clip does not identify which scene or costumes, if any, the actors were in when they danced, and the absence of that context leaves a gap between the off-camera moment and the finished film’s chosen tone.
Practically, the TikTok functions as both promotion and proof: promotion because any shared on-set footage draws attention in the days before a release, and proof because it gives a dateable, verifiable look at the ensemble working together. Filming took place in London from January through June 2025, and after the May 18 premiere the film now stands two weeks from its U.S. theatrical opening on June 5. International distribution rests with Sony Pictures Releasing International, which means the picture will roll out to international markets under that banner after the U.S. launch.
The most consequential open question the clip creates is plain: how will the film balance that on-set camaraderie with the large-scale action audiences expect? The shared moment suggests warmth among the performers, but because the TikTok doesn’t show whether the dancers were in costume or between scenes, it leaves viewers with a testable proposition. That proposition will be resolved when Masters of the Universe hits U.S. theaters on June 5, 2026 — the day audiences can judge whether the movie keeps the off-camera ease visible in Mendes’ clip or leans fully into its action-heavy billing.
