First Images from the Highlander Reboot Starring Henry Cavill
The Superman actor can be seen as the immortal MacLeod
There can be only one? As if! With Henry Cavill in the lead role, another "Highlander" film is currently in the making. The former Superman actor has now posted the first pictures on his Instagram account showing him in the role of the immortal warrior who gives the film its title. "Happy First Look for Highlander!", Cavill writes on the two photos, emphasizing:
This has been quite the journey for me, which I'll tell you all about when the time is right, but it's a special moment to be able to share this. I hope you enjoy.
The new "Highlander" adventure is a reboot of the 1986 fantasy classic of the same name. The film centers on immortal warriors who duel each other for centuries until there is only one left. The only way to take away their potentially infinite life is to behead them. If one immortal falls at the hands of the other, the energy of the deceased is transferred to the winner of the fight. Connor MacLeod, played by Christopher Lambert in the original, is one of these immortals. Growing up in the Scottish Highlands in the 16th century, he learns of his destiny from his future mentor Juan Sánchez-Villalobos Ramírez (played by Sean Connery) , who is also immortal. Connor manages to remain victorious and alive for several centuries. In New York in the 1980s, however, he encounters an old enemy with whom a decisive battle ensues.
Planned since 2009
It remains to be seen how the reboot will differ from the original. In any case, Cavill will play a new version of the protagonist MacLeod, while Russell Crowe will take on the role of Ramírez. The cast also includes Dave Bautista, Karen Gillan and Djimon Hounsou. While Russell Mulcahy directed the 80s original, "John Wick" director Chad Stahelski is now taking over the production. The screenplay for the remake was written by Michael Finch, with Ryan J. Condal and Kerry Williamson involved in earlier versions of the script.
Plans for the reboot have been in place since 2009, but it took until 2016 for Stahelski to come on board and another five years for Cavill to be signed as the lead actor. There was a further delay of several months when Cavill suffered an injury last year during preparations for the film.
Highlander: a classic of the fantasy genre
On paper, the premise of "Highlander" seems a little strange. Immortals who duel with swords and chop each other's heads off again and again over centuries - you have to come up with that first. Accordingly, cinema audiences were probably also skeptical, which meant that the original 1986 film was not a success. At the time, "Highlander" grossed a meagre 5.9 million US dollars at the global box office. "Highlander" would probably have disappeared into oblivion if the film had not subsequently celebrated a successful rebirth on VHS and become a cult film. This is probably due in no small part to the fantastic soundtrack by Queen, who contributed timeless songs such as "A Kind of Magic", "Princes of the Universe" and, above all, the track "Who Wants to Live Forever", which fits the story perfectly.
This led to the sequel "Highlander II: The Quickening" just five years later, in which the original stars Christopher Lambert and Sean Connery could be seen again and Russell Mulcahy also returned to the director's chair. In 1992, a "Highlander" TV series began, which was to run for a total of six seasons and in which Adrian Paul played Duncan MacLeod, a relative of the on-screen hero Connor. This was followed in 1994 by "Highlander III: The Sorcerer" , another film with Lambert, but this time directed by Andy Morahan. In 2000, the TV Highlander Duncan finally met the movie Highlander Connor in the crossover "Highlander: Endgame" by director Doug Aarniokoski.
While the TV series was at least able to build up its own mythology over the course of the six seasons, which was based on the original film but continued to develop, the film sequels were disappointing. None of the sequels could hold a candle to the original. This was not least due to the fact that the story was basically already told in the first film. The original film's underlying mantra "There can be only one" was basically taken ad absurdum by the sequels. So if you want to revive the franchise, the best way to do it is with a reboot. And as the first images show, leading actor Henry Cavill cuts a good figure, at least visually.
