Back in March, we passed along word that a remake of the 1986 classic HIGHLANDER might finally be happening, with JOHN WICK director Chad Stahelski being the one who will finally bring the story of swordfighting immortals back to the big screen. Ryan Condal (HERCULES and RAMPAGE) has delivered a script to Lionsgate, and it's being produced by Neal H. Moritz. But that was back in March, what's happening with the film now?
Director Chad Stahelski on HIGHLANDER:
I still very much want to go in and do Highlander. Right now, I’m very interested in doing the Highlander property. It’s scarily similar to John Wick. There’s a great mythology, it’s got an action-design challenge. What would a guy really be like after 500 years of practicing sword-work? I’m still a stunt guy at heart. You want to reinvent gunfights, how do you do it? You want to reinvent sword fighting, how do you do it? And that’s where we are at now. I love the first Highlander and I think I’m in a pretty good spot. The creative team, the producers and the studio that’s behind it have kind of said, ‘It’s yours to play with.’
So it would appear that the filmmaker has just been super-busy filming the third entry in the JOHN WICK series, called, you know, JOHN WICK: CHAPTER THREE. That said, he plans to get back into the swing of HIGHLANDER afterward. How do you feel about this reboot? Let us know below!
HIGHLANDER synopsis:
When the mystical Russell Nash (Christopher Lambert) kills a man in a sword fight in a New York City parking lot, he leaves a sliver of an ancient weapon lodged in a car in the process. After brilliant forensics specialist Brenda Wyatt (Roxanne Hart) recovers evidence of the mysterious weapon, she and her partner, Lt. Frank Moran (Alan North), embark on an investigation Of Nash that will land them in the middle of a dangerous, centuries-old feud between powerful immortals.
The original film was directed by Russell Mulcahy (RESIDENT EVIL: EXTINCTION) from a screenplay written by Gregory Widen, Peter Bellwood, and Larry Ferguson. Peter S. Davis and William N. Panzer produced and the movie starred Christopher Lambert (MORTAL KOMBAT), Roxanne Hart (PULSE), Clancy Brown (STARSHIP TROOPERS), and Sean Connery (THE ROCK). Snag a copy of the original on Blu-ray right over HERE.