The restart of Highlander finds a new home on Amazon MGM after Lionsgate, according to reports, has lost confidence in Henry Cavill

THE Highlander Restart protagonist Henry Cavill It is proceeding for the production, but according to what reports it is not going on with the study that has developed it for years.

According to a recent report by The Wrap, Lionsgate eventually transmitted the project after falling on both the budget and the lack of trust in the current draw at the Botteghino di Cavill. So Amazon MGM Studios intervened, ready to give life to a new generation of immortals.

At the center of this shuffle behind the scenes is the director Chad Stahelski (John Wick), who had requested a $ 180 million budget to fully achieve his vision of the Highlander universe. Lionsgate, however, was not willing to climb more than $ 165 million.

That difference of $ 15 million, combined with growing concerns about the recent performance of cavill at the box office, proved to be a route.

This is worth noting this Highlander, Although containing visual effects, it is largely an action film on the ground that leans heavily on games of swords, practical acrobatics and martial arts choreography. This is Stahelski’s bread and butter. The first three John Wick The films were made for a fraction of the cost: $ 30 million, $ 40 million and $ 75 million, respectively.

But according to what reported, the hesitation of Lionsgate worked deeper than the production numbers only. According to the report, the managers were worried about the decreasing yields of Cavill as a box office draw.

The most recent examples? ArgylleWhich had a reported budget of $ 70-80 million, with Apple spent $ 200 million for global rights, has only collected $ 96.2 million all over the world and has gained warm revisions. Then there is The Ministry of Urgentlemanly Warfarethat Lionsgate published in North America. Despite a budget of $ 60 million, it led to only $ 29.7 million globally.

The sources in the studio went further, saying to the envelope Highlander It has been seen as “Highlander is a film to a neighborhood, which deals with Gen X Mals who remembered the original film (and the sequel and the union tv series that followed)”. Therefore, the study did not see quite mainstream appeal to justify the investment.

Insert Amazon MGM Studios, which is already collaborating with Cavill on other projects including a high profile live action Voltron remake and the Warhammer 40.000 cinematographic universe. Amazon saw the value in the combination of Stahelski’s vision with the stellar power of Cavill. Now, the restart has a new home and a new momentum.

Stahelski has recently shared that the plan is to start shooting Highlander in September, with an eye to an exit from 2027 or 2028.

Highlander Started in 1986 with Christopher Lambert With Connor Macleod, an immortal warrior who fights others of his kind over the centuries. The film generated four sequels, a popular TV series from the 90s starring Adrian Paul Like Duncan Macleod and more spin-off.

The basic mythology is simple but really fantastic with the immortals that existed since the dawn of the time and are blocked in a “competition” of centuries that must follow three unhappy rules: the fight must be one against one; Holy soil is prohibited and in the end, only one can be there.

In a previous conversation, Stahelski spoke of his tone in Cavill and why this role stands out:

“My strong point was, a [Henry Cavill]Look, you have a guy who has been alive for over 500 years. He is the last person in the world who wanted to be in this situation. So you can cover a rather wide diffusion of a bow span there. And you can experience someone who is trained over 500 years and somehow played [with many types of] martial arts. “

The director previously had also made fun of the action in the film and explained that he will be inspired by the action in John Wick’s films.

“I will keep it all the way. Most of the audience, I will use the analogy of weapons, most of what you know about the focuses on fire or car chases because most of us are not involved in fighting with firearms or car chases or fighting with the sword, we learn through the films.”

“And what shows you those films is about 95% bullshit. You don’t fight 50 boys with bare hands and then go away, but it’s fun. It is a fulfillment of desires.

“So John Wick, we know it’s a cartoon – I know it is not – but we also have fun with it. But we make tactical top -ups, we try to make fire manipulations, things like professionals, the military do so. But then we have fun, you know? The work of the sword is very the same.” “

Cavill previously had shared how big a fan of his franchise is and then said that the screenplay of the film is “extraordinary” and that the film will take some “big oscillations”. He said:

“I am a Highlander fan, they are very funny films. Obviously I watched them when I was much younger and since then I have seen myself again, but also the television program.

“I really liked the tradition behind it, that sense of a tragic warrior with more than one story to tell that an interesting boy with a sword, doing interesting things, and this is even deeper.

“What they have done so far and we are doing with the development of the script is extraordinary, I think people will really be, really happy.

“The big swings are important, you play it safe, you will go, eh, I suppose it is fine?” But if you do a great swing, people love or hate him. “

Stahelski also explained that they are taking the best elements of history from the whole franchise and implementing everything in a story that will be widespread through a film trilogy:

“I think the TV series hit many fantastic things were not in the function, among the observers and all the different types of immortals. How can we insert it in a functionality mode before dribbling it in the world of TV?

“Well, restructure it in some parts, let’s take a look as if it were a television show, let’s take a look as if it were a high -end trilogy. How do we tell the story of the meeting, the successful, immortals and how can we really build this world even more than the original project?

“This is what we are renovating right now. It is taking all the good things we had before being involved in the project by the script; redevelopment of the screenplay to give us an excellent chapter one, two and three; and expand the world.”

He also spoke of his vision for the film, saying: “

The vision we are trying to cross and what we are trying to develop, is very equivalent to Star Wars. The first is a very satisfactory ending, but leaves the door open and it is a bit like I see this.

“I would really like to expand it over three. I see that the gathering happens more than three. It is complicated, do not get me wrong, that’s why we are still developing it. We want to be able to tell three complete stories that adapt.

“I think the Star Wars trilogy, at least until the Strike Back Empire, is a good example of how we want to elaborate it.”

I am around for this film and I have no doubt that it will be a tough movie. I hope it ends up being a huge success at the box office, but only time will say it.