Henry Cavill’s “Highlander” reboot debuted during Amazon MGM’s presentation at CinemaCon, an annual convention for movie theater owners in Las Vegas.
Filming is still underway, but CinemaCon attendees were treated to behind-the-scenes footage and extremely brutal action scenes reminiscent of Chad Stahelski’s John Wick. There are plenty of neon-drenched battles at crowded raves, as well as sword fights and motorcycle chases. Cavill’s immortal character is revealed to have been born in 1518 and is forced to fight immortal killers in The Gathering, where only one survives. Filming will continue in Poland, the Scottish Highlands and Hong Kong.
Cavill will take on the Highlander mantle in the upcoming reboot by Christopher Lambert, who starred in the original 1986 action film. After playing Superman in the DC Universe and monster hunter Geralt of Rivia in Netflix’s The Witcher series, Cavill will travel back in time for another action series. The film is directed by Stahelski, a former stuntman turned filmmaker who directed all four John Wick films.
Cavill stars as Conor MacLeod, a 16th century Scottish swordsman who discovers he is immortal and destined to fight generations of fellow warriors for a mysterious prize. Lambert played the role in the 1986 film, which also starred Sean Connery, Clancy Brown, and Roxanne Hart. The reboot stars Russell Crowe as Connery’s original warrior, Juan Sánchez-Villalobos Ramirez, and Dave Bautista as the brutal barbarian Kurgan, played by Brown in the previous film. Other cast members include Karen Gillan, Djimon Hounsou, Dave Bautista, Marisa Abella, Jeremy Irons, Max Chan, and Siobhan Karen. Michael Finch wrote the screenplay, and Ryan J. Condal and Kelly Williamson worked on early drafts of the film.
After the first film, the “Highlander” series was followed by several sequels, an animated television series, and spin-off novels that received mostly negative reviews. Cavill’s reboot will be the first Highlander movie to hit the big screen since 2000’s Highlander: Endgame.
