Henry Cavill has said the Highlander reboot is taking “all of [his] focus”.
The 42-year-old actor is due to portray Scottish swordsman Connor MacLeod in director Chad Stahelski’s reimagining of the 1986 action flick of the same name, and Cavill has now said he will be deep in production for Highlander soon.
When The Hollywood Reporter asked the Man of Steel star what projects he’d be working on this summer, he said: “Highlander! That is taking all of my focus.
“It’s a project that I’m extremely excited about. This character is going to be a lot of fun to play, and I’m loving working with Chad Stahelski. He is a very talented man.”
Filming for Highlander had initially started in January in Scotland, with Amazon MGM Studios said to be targeting a 2026 release for the movie.
In Highlander, immortal warrior Connor MacLeod (Cavill) battles across centuries, facing duels with others like him.
In modern-day New York, he must confront his greatest foe to claim the ultimate prize.
Cavill will be taking on the role of Connor MacLeod from Christopher Lambert - who portrayed the action hero in the original series - and Stahelski said he had persuaded him to sign on by pitching the project as a martial arts-focused movie that centred around an intense character arc for the swordsman.
The John Wick director told The Direct: “My selling point was, to [Cavill], look, you’ve got a guy that's been alive for over 500 years. He’s the last person in the world that wanted to be in this situation.
“So you get to cover quite a broad spread of a character arc there. And you get to experience someone that’s trained over 500 years and sort of played [with many types of] martial arts.”
The Ballerina producer added his Highlander film would be set “beyond present-day New York and Hong Kong”, teasing that it's “a bit of a love story, but not how you think”.
He said: “We're bringing it forward from the early 1500s in the highlands to the beyond present-day New York and Hong Kong, and seeing how it goes.
“There’s big opportunity for action. There's a chance to play a character that not a lot of people get to play. And it's a bit of a love story, but not how you think. On John Wick, I learned a lot on how to bend the storytelling a little ... another kind of myth.”
The Highlander reboot will feature Russell Crowe as Juan Sánchez-Villalobos Ramírez, originally portrayed by Sir Sean Connery, alongside Industry star Marisa Abela in a new, undisclosed role.
Following the announcement of her casting, Abela shared that it was a “real honour to step into such a legacy” and added that she was “looking forward to working with Henry and Russell on something this iconic”.
