Home Entertainment The HIGHLANDER reboot finds a new director in JOHN WICK's Chad Stahelski

The HIGHLANDER reboot finds a new director in JOHN WICK's Chad Stahelski

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“There can be only one!” That famous line from Highlander had taken on a bit of a meta slant in the last few years, as development of a possible reboot of the classic franchise (well, really a classic 80’s movie and 90’s TV series, and then some other rubbish we all want to forget) just kept stalling over and over again. The universe seemingly didn’t want anybody else stepping into Christopher Lambert’s immortal shoes. But it seems that nobody can truly decapitate this production as THR reports that long beleagured reboot has found itself a new director in Chad Stahelski.

If that name sounds familiar it’s because Stahelski is one half of the stunt coordinators turned directing duo who gave the world the incredible action film John Wick, which has seen them catapulted on to Hollywood’s short list of hotly in-demand filmmakers. Stahelski’s directing partner David Leitch just bagged himself a high profile franchise of his own as he was officially confirmed as the director of Deadpool 2, so I guess Leitch is just following suit.

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He’s also following a string of other filmmakers in Justin Lin, Juan Carlos Fresnadillo and Cedric Nicolas-Troyan, who had all been attached to direct this remake since it was first announced in 2008, but then left for different reasons. Maybe Leitch is the one to finally make it happen and will have this production… quickening! At one stage Deadpool himself, Ryan Reynolds, was actually attached to star in the Highlander reboot, but he’s also since moved on. There’s no word on a replacement lead actor, but Lionsgate – who will be developing the film with producers Neal Moritz and Peter Davis – are no looking for a scribe to give a new spin on this story.

Said story of the 1986 original saw Lambert as Duncan MacLeod, a nearly 400 year old immortal Scottish man living in modern day America. It’s revealed that he’s just one of a small race of immortals who can only be killed by decapitation – which they regularly try to do to each other in ritualized sword fighting, with the winner of a duel being able to absorb all the power and knowledge of his vanquished foe. All done to a bitching Queen soundtrack as CGI lightning destroys everything around him. The original also starred Clancy Brown as the vicious immortal warrior, the Kurgan, while Sean Connery – an actual Scotsman, may I remind you – played MacLeod’s immortal Spanish mentor Juan Sánchez Villa-Lobos Ramírez.

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And then Highlander II came along and said they were all… alien rebels???… who got reborn as babies???… hundreds of years in the past???…. as a punishment for their insurrection??… and now had to save the Earth after the ozone layer was completely destroyed???… and man f$%k that movie! Just ignore everything in this paragraph and just stick to the description above.

So do you want to see a Highlander reboot or do you not care too much because, like me, will only believe this movie is real when you actually see it? Also, if it does exist, who do you think should do the soundtrack?

Last Updated: November 24, 2016

4 Comments

  1. Kromas Ryder

    November 24, 2016 at 12:54

    And now I got Queen stuck in my head. Pay it forward I suppose.

    “Here we are, Born to be kings, We are the princes of the universe!”

    Reply

    • Original Heretic

      November 25, 2016 at 16:13

      And now you’ve done it to me!

      “I am immortal, I have inside me the blood of kings!
      I have no rival, no man can be my equaaaaaal!”

      Reply

  2. For the Emperor!

    November 25, 2016 at 08:56

    Just don’t call him Duncan or Connor – call him something else. Those characters cannot be replaced.

    Reply

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