Good news! The Highlander reboot starring Henry Cavill from John Wick‘s Chad Stahelski is moving forward in a big way with a reported $100 million+ budget.
Who can’t wait for Henry to say, “There can be only one!”
Deadline reports the studio behind the project, Lionsgate, will be shopping the flick around at the American Film Market (AFM). The AFM is an annual industry event held in November to network and to sell, finance and acquire films.
Big budget
The site offers the Highlander reboot has a “big-budget proposition, north of $100M” and is eyeing a 2024 film start.
To put things in perspective, the $100M+ budget is more than each of Stahelski’s first three John Wick movies and even more than John Wick 4’s own $100M budget.
The 1986 movie that kicked off the franchise starring Christopher Lambert only had a budget of $19 million, which in today’s dollars is around $53 million, so the Highlander reboot will be double that.
We can guess that means some really good actors and special effects are in store for the reboot as they will need to cast Ramírez (played by Sean Connery) and The Kurgan (Clancy Brown).
We can also guess they might be filming at some really cool locations, as in the case of John Wick 4, they filmed in France, Germany, New York City, and Japan, so I’m guessing something similar.
Assuming Henry Cavill is playing Connor MacLeod of the Clan MacLeod (and not another descendant?!), Connor MacLeod is hundreds of years old and has traveled the world. It’s likely there will be flashbacks to Scotland and other places Connor has visited. The original movie takes place in NYC in the present day and filmed in Scotland, England, Wales, and New York City.
Recently, Stahelski offered up they are also borrowing from the Adrian Paul series, which let’s be honest, blows the movies away, and he said they have plans to expand with spinoffs on TV (similar to what they did with John Wick). So that is more good news.
Henry Cavill in high demand
Deadline also adds that Henry Cavill is in high demand in Hollywood right now. In addition to the Highlander reboot, Cavill has Matthew Vaughn’s spy thriller Argylle and is starring in two movies by director Guy Ritchie with the latest one, a big action movie, also starring Jake Gyllenhaal. Cavill is also developing the live-action Warhammer cinematic universe at Amazon Prime Video.
The Highlander reboot is being produced by Joshua Davis, Fast And The Furious producer Neal H. Moritz, Stahelski (thru his 87Eleven Entertainment production company), and Louise Rosner.
The current draft of the screenplay is by Mike Finch who is known for John Wick 4, American Assassin, Hitman: Agent 47, The November Man, and Predators. It is also reported that the late Peter S. Davis, producer of the original Highlander movie, initiated the development of the reboot.
I do have one request, they either need to keep Queen’s “Princes of the Universe” theme song, use an updated version, or somehow come up with an iconic version of their own (like how Hans Zimmer managed to for Henry’s Superman in Man of Steel). This is a MUST.
Update: Director Chat Stahelski confirms they are using the Queen music.
