Highlander Reboot: Latest news as John Wick director provides update on film starring Henry Cavill

The original film had the tagline "there can be only one", but following several further movies and television series it's looking like an increasingly inaccurate statement.

Henry Cavill is set to star in the eagerly-awaited Highlander reboot.

The Highlander franchise began life in a 1986 with the fantasy-adventure film starring Christopher Lambert, Clancy Brown and Sean Connery.

It wasn't a box office hit at the time but became a cult success, not least because of the soundtrack provided by Queen which accompanied the plot about a group of immortal warriors who must fight against each other for 'the Prize' - the power of all the immortals through time.

A number of poorly-received sequels, and a successful television series, followed - with the last parts of the Highlander universe arriving back in 2007 in the shape of anime film 'Highlander: The Search For Vengeance' and TV series follow-up 'Highlander: The Source'.

The year after, in 2008, Summit Entertainment announced that it had bought the film rights to Highlander and were planning a remake of the original, with John Wick director Chad Stahelski joining the project more than a decade later and Henry Cavill announced as the star in May 2021.

Now Stahelski has provided an update on how his plans are going - so, here's what we know.

What's the latest from the director?

Appearing on Josh Horowitz's 'Happy, Sad, Confused' podcast, Stahelski discussed for the first time what direction he saw the film taking, and it's not looking like a straight reboot as originally thought.

He said: "I think we have some very good elements now. The trick is when you have the tagline 'there can only be one,' you can’t just kill everybody the first time. I’ll say it for you first, our story engages a lot of the same characters and stuff like that, but we’ve also brought in elements of all the TV shows, and we’re trying to do a bit of a prequel, a setup to The Gathering, so we have room to grow the property."

So it looks like being more of a prequel that will attempt to bring the whole franchaise together in an ongoing 'Highlanderverse',

What has Henry Cavill said about being cast in Highlander?

Announcing his involvement a couple of years ago, The Witcher star said: "Very exciting news today! I've been a fan of Highlander since I was lad. From the movies in all of their ‘80s, Queen-slathered glory to the TV show with an actor who looked remarkably like one of my brothers. Being not shy with swords, and having a director as talented as Chad Stahelski at the helm, this is an opportunity like no other. Deep diving into franchise storytelling with all the tools at our disposal, is going to make this an adventure I (and hopefully all of you) shall never forget.”

What has Chad Stahelski said about casting Henry Cavill?

Stahelski has always said that former Superman Cavill was his first choice to play the lead in his Highlander reboot, saying: "It's not just about muscles and brooding. I think he's got an incredible range and I think he'd bring something very special. His enthusiasm has been amazing in it."

He added that Cavill "obviously has the physicality, but that doesn’t mean a whole lot if you can’t also carry the empathy of a character that’s lived 500 years”, and said the actor was “immediately riffing on the idea of the burden of immortality and you could see in his eyes that he can transform himself from being a young, vibrant soul to an old, wise soul”.

What has Chad Stahelski previously said about Highlander?

Explaining why he wanted to take on the film, Stahelski said: "Highlander is such a massive property. Luckily, the studio is really behind me in this. I truly believe this is one of those properties that could actually sustain a good universe, meaning a TV show or something. And to go out there, and just haphazardly throw together what we think would be a quick sword fighting-immortal movie, I think would be a mistake.”

When will Highlander be released?

The project has been dogged by delays, with filming previously expected to start in 2022. With little in the way of solid progress thusfar - and the current Hollywood writers' strike, it seems unlikely that it will be filmed until next year - with a possible release date of 2025. In short, don't hold your breath.