Henry Cavill Boards John Wick Director Chad Stahelski’s Highlander Reboot
Superman and The Witcher actor Henry Cavill announced he has joined John Wick director Chad Stahelski’s long gestating Highlander reboot.
Cavill made the announcement to his Instagram, where he shared a screenshot of a Deadline article reporting on the news.
In the Instagram post, Cavill stated, “Very exciting news today! I’ve been a fan of Highlander since I was lad. From the movies in all of their 80s, Queen slathered glory to the TV show with an actor who looked remarkably like one of my brothers.”
He continued, “Being not shy with swords, and having a director as talented as Chad Stahelski at the helm, this is an opportunity like no other.”
“Deep diving into franchise storytelling with all the tools at our disposal, is going to make this an adventure I (and hopefully all of you) shall never forget,” Cavill stated.
Cavill would also share a photo of two books. The first is titled So You’re Going To Wear The Kilt” and the other titled Those Bloody Kilts.
Cavill explained “And as you can see from the swipe, I’ve lately been dipping into some of my Scottish heritage, and inadvertently getting my base line research underway!”
It’s unclear who Cavill will be playing in Lionsgate’s Highlander reboot.
Deadline’s Justin Kroll simply reports, “Sources tell Deadline that the Man of Steel star is in talks for one of the lead roles in Lionsgate’s reboot of Highlander with John Wick director Chad Stahelski helming.”
Kroll later adds, “The plot of this latest take is unknown, as is whether Cavill will be playing a brand new character to the universe or a character from previous projects.”
Stahelski gave an update on the film, which has been in development as far back as 2016, back in June 2020.
He stated, “We’re in heavy development mode on Highlander. Tweaking the scripts, writing, conceptualizing sequences, how we’re going to do everything. We probably have a lot more in-person kind of things, but it hasn’t slowed down our development process at all.”
Previously, in 2017, he stated, “Ratings are second to what we’re going to do. Highlander, I think the action is — at least what’s in my head — is going to fall on a line, for sure.”
He added, “We want to design it what we think is aesthetically cool, and so far I’ve met no resistance, they’re like, ‘Look, whatever you did with John Wick with the gun stuff, we want you to try and do with the sword stuff. We want you to make something cool and something unique, and something that’s going to make audiences say ‘Wow, I haven’t seen that before.'”
In 2016, when the Stahelski was first announced as the director he explained why he loves the property so much, “”I’ve been a huge fan of the original property since I saw it in high school. Such great themes of immortality, love, and identity are all wrapped up in such colorful mythology.”
He elaborated, “I can’t think of a better property that gives the opportunity to create interesting characters, mythic themes, and action set pieces.”
The original Highlander was released back in 1986. It starred Christopher Lambert as Connor MacLeod and was directed by Russel Mulcahy.
The film saw MacLeod as one of a race of immortals as he was mentored by Ramirez played by Sean Connery and eventually had to face his old foe the Kurgan played by Clancy Brown.
The movie coined the now classic phrase, “There can be only one.” It would be shouted when the immortals beheaded their foes and obtained their knowledge and powers through an ability called the Quickening.
What do you make of Cavill joining Stahelski’s Highlander reboot?
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