A year ago, Lionsgate flew Henry Cavill to Las Vegas, where he charmed audiences at CinemaCon with tales of the extensive sword training he was undergoing to star in Highlander for the studio. The project had been in development for almost a decade with filmmaker Chad Stahelski, but finally seemed to be moving forward.
Now, that project is indeed still moving forward, but it will be headed to Amazon MGM Studios’ United Artists, which is in final negotiations to acquire the package from Lionsgate. The film is intended as a theatrical play.
At one time, Lionsgate was plotting an entire universe for Highlander, with Stahelski to oversee it all. But the new deal will give UA full rights to the franchise, which dates back to the 1986 feature about immortal warriors starring Christopher Lambert and Sean Connery. As the tagline “there can only be one,” suggests, these warriors are pitted in battle agaisnt one another. With each immortal they kill, they become stronger, until only one will remain. The film spawned four sequels and three television series.
Under the deal, UA’s Scott Stuber and Nick Nesbitt will produce. Neal H. Moritz will also produce with Stahelski’s banner, 87Eleven Entertainment. Michael Fench, who worked on Stahelski’s John Wick: Chapter 4, will pen the script.
Cavill has been attached to the proejct since 2021, while Stahelski has been attached since 2016. The filmmaker previously told The Hollywood Reporter of the project: “It’s just a tough nut to crack because the Highlander property is so involved and the mythology is so deep. But to try and make it our own, and be somewhat true to the original, yet do it in a way that makes it ours, is a little tricky. We don’t want to do a remake. We don’t want to do a reinvention. We want to do something that’s fresh, that utilizes the mythology of what everyone loves from the first movie.”
Cavill is already in business with Amazon, starring in its upcoming Voltron movie, and is developing Warhammer 40,000 as a franchise.
Cavill is repped by WME and Sloane Offer. Stahelski is repped by WME and Johnson Shapiro. Finch is represented by Verve Talent and Literary Agency and Kleinberg Lange.
