Henry Cavill to star in Highlander Reboot

[Corvinus85]

 

12 hours ago, Rhom said:

No word on what Scottish actor they will cast to play a Spanish guy

Technically he was a 2000 year old Egyptian.

[karaddin]

8 hours ago, Ran said:

They should give Christopher Lambert and Adrian Paul cameos. Assuming Cavill will be playing Connor, they could have Paul be Connor's father, and Lambert... I don't know, William Wallace or something, he spent time in France, that explains his ridiculous accent.

No love for Clancy Brown? I'd definitely be getting him and his magnificent voice in there somewhere as well. 

[Myrddin]

Given that I originally picked my online name while participating on Highlander forums back in the 90's, I'm thrilled to see this franchise be rebooted without the cringe and awful stuff we've been served in the past. My personal canon is HL1 + (most of) the tv series. 

I've been a fan of Cavil for a long time. Back when he was in Count of Monte Cristo, I thought he'd be a good Superman once he grew up. While the scripts he's been given for the character were mixed, I really liked his portrayal as Kal El. Since he's moving on from that, I'm glad to see him taking on Connor (or Duncan?). 

He may not be a Shakespeare caliber actor, but he is far from the worst actor out there. That's a shaky soapbox to perch, people. 

Regardless, I'd love to see this with a franchise in mind (no becoming The One in the first one). Also let's see Methos and the Watchers be worked into the canon. 

[Ran]

40 minutes ago, karaddin said:

No love for Clancy Brown? I'd definitely be getting him and his magnificent voice in there somewhere as well. 

Brown kind of made that movie, with Connery, so if he's up for it, for sure. I was just thinking the Macleod side of things.

He should be the priest in the church when the Kurgen does his thing.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

24 minutes ago, Myrddin said:

Given that I originally picked my online name while participating on Highlander forums back in the 90's, I'm thrilled to see this franchise be rebooted without the cringe and awful stuff we've been served in the past. My personal canon is HL1 + (most of) the tv series. 

I've been a fan of Cavil for a long time. Back when he was in Count of Monte Cristo, I thought he'd be a good Superman once he grew up. While the scripts he's been given for the character were mixed, I really liked his portrayal as Kal El. Since he's moving on from that, I'm glad to see him taking on Connor (or Duncan?). 

He may not be a Shakespeare caliber actor, but he is far from the worst actor out there. That's a shaky soapbox to perch, people. 

Regardless, I'd love to see this with a franchise in mind (no becoming The One in the first one). Also let's see Methos and the Watchers be worked into the canon. 

He's terrible in that movie, and overall, while I like it because there aren't any other good Count movies, it's a pretty bad adaptation of the book outside of the scenes in Chateau D'If. 

Luis Guzman's Jacopo is the best character in that film.

[Argonath Diver]

In high school in the 90s, I loved Friday nights, but not for the reasons the cool kids did - parties, home football games, etc. I got to sit in the basement, without interruption from the parents, and watch The X-Files and the Highlander syndicated show. It was awesome. The series is still sitting there looking at me via my Amazon Prime "Continue Watching" bar - I'm into season 3. It was such a great mix of 90s camp and ... well ... that's about all it was, and it still works. Adrian Paul was great. Joe Dawson and Methos were even better. 

I can't imagine a reboot being able to contain the lighting-in-a-bottle of the original film's absurdity and flamboyance, or the show's charm. I'll be skeptical until I see more casting, or a trailer that's surprisingly effective. One can hope, though.

[Veltigar]

4 hours ago, Spockydog said:

The best thing I can say about this news is at least he's not Christopher Lambert. That dude is probably the worst leading man in the history of cinema. 

I love Christopher Lambert. Between Highlander, Mortal Kombat, Beowulf and some of the action thrillers he starred in the guy has been my to go to B-movie star of all time. Is he any good in the classical sense of the word? No, or at least not in the movies I have seen of him, but he's awful in just the right, charismatic way to rise above the actual quality of his acting. Compare him and the movies he stars in with The Room by Tommy Wiseau. Definitely terrible, but in such a memorable way that they far exceed much glossier and more competently made films.

Like, I'd watch Highlander or Beowulf especially over anything Henry Cavil has ever done. The schlockiness is so much more engaging than the boring, vaguely constipated performance of Cavil.

4 hours ago, Spockydog said:

Yeah, he's not very good at the acting part of being an actor. But, by all accounts, he's a great guy, and that probably helps. 

 

That I won't dispute. He seems generally very energetic about his parts. I'm probably guessing he's one of the few big name actors that actively chases parts like this instead of making one big franchise (e.g. like his Superman) and then cashing out and making better films elsewhere. The man knows the sandbox he can thrive in.

4 hours ago, Heartofice said:

This whole franchise gets looked at through some rosey lenses I think. Even the first movie is not very good. Sure it has some interesting ideas and Connery does Connery in it, but actually its quite grimy and just.. meh

I think we look back at these things in the context of when they were made and thats why we my appraise them a bit higher. The TV was actually garbage but there was little like it at the time and I'd watch it because there was the feeling something cool could happen.

Never really seen the series and I think I have only seen the sequel once. The third one wasn't bad if you ask me. It should have been a prequel instead of a sequel but all in all it was a good B-movie.

I will defend the first film though. It's definitely a B-movie, but that is a genre on its own really. In its own genre it's a great film and still memorable for new viewers to this day. I mean don't you just get pump watching this and seeing Christopher Lamber say There can be only one followed by all the glass just shattering around him  

4 hours ago, Heartofice said:

I'm not sure there are really, and if they do then they are already getting a good amount of work. I'm looking at Mr Hemsworth. Have to admit that Cavill is pretty dishy, I would if I was that way inclined.

Control yourself @Heartofice we're here to discuss Highlander, not the hotness of Mr. Cavil 

But you are probably right, that in combination with him actively chasing these geek roles gets him in extra-ordinary amount of work.

2 hours ago, Tywin et al. said:

The mere thought of Nic Cage as Superman is better than any of Cavill's portrayals of the character.

4 hours ago, red snow said:

And I guess we were down to the last 5 in the film so, statistically it's plausible there were only men left. Although on a recent rewatch I was reminded of how underwhelming the other immortals were. It seemed fairly obvious why Kurgan and Mcloud wound up the final two. 

I always defended the others in my head by thinking that there are really only two ways to make it to the Gathering. Either be a great badass or hide yourself away and let the rest kill themselves off. I'm guessing Macleod and the Kurgan were category one and the others were more in category two  

 

[karaddin]

1 hour ago, Ran said:

Brown kind of made that movie, with Connery, so if he's up for it, for sure. I was just thinking the Macleod side of things.

He should be the priest in the church when the Kurgen does his thing.

I've got it in my head that's he's one of the actors that seems like a genuinely good guy, and he does a fair bit of voice acting these days as well so I think he would be up for something like that. And that does sound like a good choice.

[BigFatCoward]

I don't think Cavill is bad, but i think everything I've ever seen him in is awful, he must have something to do with that. 

[red snow]

10 minutes ago, karaddin said:

I've got it in my head that's he's one of the actors that seems like a genuinely good guy, and he does a fair bit of voice acting these days as well so I think he would be up for something like that. And that does sound like a good choice.

Him playing the priest would be great as it'd remind me of one of his other great roles in "Carnivale". The guy is a great actor and it's a shame he possibly got typecast because of his physical appearance/size and performance as Kurgen. He does an excellent Lex Luthor in a bunch of the animated projects and his voice is easily recognisable when he pops up in anything. "I know his voice"

1 hour ago, Veltigar said:

 

I always defended the others in my head by thinking that there are really only two ways to make it to the Gathering. Either be a great badass or hide yourself away and let the rest kill themselves off. I'm guessing Macleod and the Kurgan were category one and the others were more in category two  

 

That and maybe some weird urge that draws them out like magnets as the numbers diminish. Which explains why they'd suddenly decide to congregate in New York despite spending centuries in hiding.

I rewatched the film recently and i was quite distracted by the flashback between Connor and his immortal friend about a duel in the 18th/19th century which didn't feature his friend at all.

I wonder who would be brave enough to do the soundtrack to a new film or would that be the one aspect of the original that would be kept? Arguably better to work the Queen songs into the soundtrack, I think.

[Luzifer's right hand]

5 hours ago, Tywin et al. said:

The mere thought of Nic Cage as Superman is better than any of Cavill's portrayals of the character.

His "only an idiot would fuck with me" aura is without peer. :p

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

17 minutes ago, Luzifer's right hand said:

His "only an idiot would fuck with me" aura is without peer. :p

I'm here for an older, broken down, balding* Superman movie with Cage at the helm. So what if it fails!

*or maybe give him the same wig from Con Air. I'm open to ideas.

[Clueless Northman]

4 hours ago, Corvinus85 said:

Technically he was a 2000 year old Egyptian.

Who had spent plenty of times in Japan, before that country had any contact with people from the Mediterranean area, from Europe or Africa, and who didn't seem to cause any raised eyebrows (as in "this due look pretty alien to me") in all these places.

Of course Clancy Brown should at least have a cameo, if not more if possible.

The original movie's trailer reminds me of a typical feature of Lambert in his early movies: his quite peculiar laughter.

[john]

I think the concept (immortal but compelled to hunt and kill others like you) is a great one that has never been adequately explored by any of the different mediums. Would work best in a tv show but any serious attempt is welcome.

[williamjm]

2 hours ago, Luzifer's right hand said:

His "only an idiot would fuck with me" aura is without peer. :p

I now can't help imagining Nic Cage playing the Kurgen. I'm not saying I think he should do it, but he would have the manic intensity that the role requires.

[red snow]

1 hour ago, williamjm said:

I now can't help imagining Nic Cage playing the Kurgen. I'm not saying I think he should do it, but he would have the manic intensity that the role requires.

Nic Cage as Ramirez could strangely work too

[Veltigar]

6 hours ago, red snow said:

That and maybe some weird urge that draws them out like magnets as the numbers diminish. Which explains why they'd suddenly decide to congregate in New York despite spending centuries in hiding.

I think that would be a magnificent addition to the lore of the series. Imagine how that would play in a new series or film when you have all the pacifists and cowards among the immortals come out of isolation and hiding because they have no other choice and then they face the Kurgan.

Cast some quality thespians in those roles and have a few of them decide to offer themselves up to MacLeod to power him up to take down the Kurgan. There is a lot of drama to mine there.

55 minutes ago, red snow said:

Nic Cage as Ramirez could strangely work too

I know we do not speak of the non-existant sequels, but I think Nic Cage would be a better choice for the second mentor figure of MacLeod which they introduce in the third film. That guy had some crazy mad yoga vibes which would fit perfectly with Cage

[Corvinus85]

Will they use Queen's amazing songs?

 

[Ran]

Cavill has posted to Instagram about the news:

Quote

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.

Odds of Adrian Paul getting a cameo seem to have gone up based on that remark.

[Argonath Diver]

Spoiler

 

16 hours ago, Corvinus85 said:

Will they use Queen's amazing songs?

 

 

 

Man, I hadn't watched that Princes of the Universe video in a while. One of the best things about living in Queens for a decade and commuting into the city was seeing the Silvercup studios sign every night. Never got old. I had a giant shit-eating grin looking down at it so many times, and it was fun the rare moments when another commuter would see my look of glee and nod, knowingly.