One of the many projects that John Wick director Chad Stahelski worked is a reboot of the fantasy action film Highlanders Which Henry Cavill he is destined to act. He’s been developing this project for years and now we know when we can expect it to hit theaters. Lionsgate Motion Picture Group president Joe Drake recently revealed on an investor call that the film is targeting a 2026 release date.
There’s no word on when production on the film will begin, but I imagine it will be after Stahelski finishes his adaptation of Ghost of Tsushima, which will most likely be his next film project. But we’ll see!
Stahelski had previously spoken about Highlander describing it as such John Wick with swords. The director said he will include both familiar characters and “elements” taken from 90s TV series: “We’re trying to make our own story [and it] it involves a lot of the same characters and stuff. But we also brought in elements from all the TV shows. We’re trying to create a sort of prequel to The Gathering.”
The gathering refers to the culmination of the almost eternal battle between the immortals. He went on to explain that they’re setting this up to expand and grow the story: “So, we have room to grow the property. We’ve had ideas for days about how to make the characters more interesting and make it an epic TV show.” . I just think it’s a rich, rich mythology.”
The original 1986 film Highlander starred Christopher Lambert, Sean Connery AND Clancy Brown as immortal beings, hunting each other and gathering more power. The film’s classic tagline was “There can only be one.”
Stahelski also said that the reboot is being developed as a trilogy. He explained that they are taking the best elements of the franchise’s story and implementing them into a single story that will be spread across a trilogy of films:
“I think the TV series hit on a lot of great things that weren’t in the movie, between the viewers and all different kinds of immortals. How do we put it into a movie mode before we drip it into the TV world? Well, let’s restructure it in parts, let’s look at it like it’s a TV show, let’s look at it like it’s a high-end trilogy. How do we tell the story of The Gathering, The Quickenings, The Immortals and how do we really build this world even more than the original blueprint? That’s what we’re restructuring right now. We’re taking all the good things from the script that we had before I got involved with the project; redesigning the script to really give us some good chapters one, two and three; and expanding the world.”
He also spoke about his vision for the film, saying:
“The vision that we’re trying to convey and what we’re trying to develop, I consider it very close to Star Wars. The first one is a very satisfying ending but it leaves the door open and that’s how I see it.” . I’d really like to expand it to three. I see The Gathering taking place in threes. It’s complicated, don’t get me wrong, that’s why we’re still developing it. We want to be able to tell three complete stories that all I think the Star Wars trilogy, at least up until The Empire Strikes Back, is a good example of how we want to work it out.”
This reboot has the potential to be an epic, visually stunning fantasy film, and I’m excited to see what Stahelski does with it!
by Joey Paur
Source: Geek Tyrant
Lloyd Grunewald is an author at “The Fashion Vibes”. He is a talented writer who focuses on bringing the latest entertainment-related news to his readers. With a deep understanding of the entertainment industry and a passion for writing, Lloyd delivers engaging articles that keep his readers informed and entertained.
