New details have emerged about Henry Cavill and director Chad Stahelski’s upcoming Highlander film.
Cavill announced the project on his Instagram post by sharing a screenshot from Deadline with a headline that blares, “Henry Cavill To Star in Lionsgate’s ‘Highlander’ Reboot From Chad Stahelski.”
Related: Henry Cavill Boards John Wick Director Chad Stahleksi’s Highlander Reboot
In the post, Cavill wrote, “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.”
“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!
#Highlander,” he concluded.
At the time of the announcement it was unclear what exactly Cavill’s role would be whether he would be portraying a new version of Connor MacLeod or Duncan MacLeod or a brand new character.
Not only was Cavill’s role mysterious, but the basic plot of the film was also unknown.
Stahelski did provide some details back in June 2020 where he said, “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 Stahleski 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.”
Now, Henry Cavill has given us a little bit more details about the film.
As part of his extensive interview with Cavill, THR’s James Hibberd notes, “Cavill says Stahelski’s vision is a more grounded-in-reality take than the original movies and show, and will likely play a bit more like a modern tragedy.”
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 a fellow immortal named 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 this new details about Cavill and Stahleski’s upcoming Highlander film?