There can only be one! And this case, there can only be one studio to spearhead production on the Highlander reboot from actor Henry Cavill and director Chad Stahelski (John Wick).
An update on the project has revealed that the film is moving from Lionsgate to Amazon MGM, just a year after Lionsgate had a splashy presentation at CinemaCon for the reboot of the beloved '80s, action franchise.
It seems Cavill is making quite the cozy home at Amazon MGM, as in addition to Highlander, he'll also star in the studio's Warhammer 40,000 cinematic universe and its live-action Voltron movie. Cavill is also said to be in the mix, as one of the candidates to succeed Daniel Craig as the next James Bond.
Stay tuned to SFF Gazette for more Highlander news as we await word on the start of production and whether the project is still headed for theaters or will be a streaming-release only.
In a previous interview, Stahelski shared his pitch to Cavill, revealing, "My selling point was, to [Henry Cavill], look, you've got a guy that's been alive for over 500 years. He's the last person in the world that wanted to be in this situation".
"So you get to cover quite a broad spread of a character arc there. And you get to experience someone that's trained over 500 years and sort of played [with many types of] martial arts."
Cavill has also previously shared his excitement about the Highlander reboot, stating, " I was, am, a Highlander fan. They were great fun movies. Obviously, I watched them when I was a lot younger, and since rewatched. But also the TV show. I really enjoyed the lore behind it. That sense of a tragic warrior, with more of a story to tell than just a cool guy with a cool sword doing cool things. And this goes even deeper into that."
Highlander follows a fictional story that asserts that immortals exist, hidden within normal society. They must hunt and kill other immortals by beheading them in a contest known as The Gathering, which will see the last-standing immortal gain ultimate power.
While the origins of the contest is never explicitly explained, the franchise generally takes the stance that immortals have existed since the dawn of time and that the contest between them must only abide by three hard rules:
- combat on Holy Ground is forbidden
- combat must be one on one
- in the end, there can only be one.
The franchise started out as a 1986 action fantasy film which starred Christopher Lambert as Connor MacLeod. That film went on to spawn 4 sequels.
A spinoff television show premiered in 1992, starring Adrian Paul as Connor's descendant and fellow immortal, Duncan MacLeod.
That show lasted 119 episodes across 6 seasons and spawned two spin-offs of its own.