Henry Cavill may have just found his next major franchise role. Per Deadline, theMan of SteelandThe Witcherstar is in talks for a lead role in Lionsgate’s upcomingHighlanderreboot. The movie will be directed by Chad Stahelski, who co-directedJohn Wickbefore helming both of its sequels. No plot details have been revealed and it’s unclear if Cavill would be playing Connor MacLeod or an original character created for the reboot.
Neal H. Moritz, Josh Davis, and David Leitch are producing theHighlanderreboot. Amanda Lewis, Patrick Wachsberger, and Gregory Widen are on board to executive produce. Prior to his passing in February, originalHighlanderproducer Peter Davis was also set to produce the new movie. There have been efforts for years to get a reboot of the movie series off the ground, but Deadline reports that the project is now finally “into position to get into production.”
Henry Cavillwould make an excellent choice forHighlanderas he would come into the role with plenty of major franchise experience. He is very famously known for playing Clark Kent in the DCEU, with starring roles in movies likeMan of SteelandZack Snyder’s Justice League. He’s said that he’s open to reprising the role of Superman one day as well, but the plan at Warner Bros. is to reboot that character with a new standalone movie.
Meanwhile, Cavill has also picked up the starring role in the hit Netflix seriesThe Witcher. Based on the novels and video game series, the Netflix show features Cavill as fan favorite character Geralt of Rivia. After the series pulled in high viewership when it premiered in late 2019, a second season was ordered at the streamer. Thanks to the pandemic and an on-set injury for Cavill, it’s taken longer than a year for season 2 to finish production, and the new episodes are set to arrive in late 2021.
Netflix will also keep Cavill around with another major role.He’ll be back as Sherlock Holmes, older brother of Millie Bobby Brown’s titular character, in the upcoming sequel toEnola Holmes. It’s already been confirmed that Cavill will reprise the role along with Brown, and director Harry Bradbeer and writer Jack Thorne are also returning.
Last year, originalHighlanderactor Clancy Brown, who played The Kurgan in the first movie,explained his feelings on the rebootin an interview with Yahoo. All too often, word of a reboot to classic movies will make fans leery, especially for something with a large cult following likeHighlander. For his part, Brown feels thatHighlanderisactually the “perfect” movie to reboot, given the changes in technology.
“It seems to me it’s the perfect movie to remake,” Brown said. “You look back on it and that stuff is so cheesy that we did. Reimagined with today’s digital technology? That would just be great. I can’t wait for it to be done.”
Starring Christopher Lambert as Connor MacLeod,Highlanderwas directed by Russell Mulcahy and written by Gregory Widen, Peter Bellwood, and Larry Ferguson. It would spawn multiple sequels and television series adaptations, but for many fans, the original remains the best. Reboots are always difficult to pull off, but with Stahelski and potentially Cavill involved,Highlanderappears to be in good hands. This news comes to us fromDeadline.
