The long-awaited reboot of Highlander starts shooting in Scotland next spring, and the director has revealed more about his thinking behind the movie. Unbelievably it is the 10th anniversary of John Wick, and Chad Stahelski was giving interviews on that franchise when The Direct asked him about Highlander.
He seemed to hint that we would see more of alternative time periods than the small glimpses we were afforded in the original movie.
Highlander was a 1986 British-American production. It told the story of Connor MacLeod (Christopher Lambert) from the Scottish Highlands in the 16th century, who discovers he is one of the group of immortals destined to battle across time, able to die only by being beheaded, fighting a secret war against each other until the last remaining immortal will win “the prize”.
It is a cult classic, famous for an appearance by Sean Connery as a Spaniard with a Scottish accent, a soundtrack by rock legends Queen, and a scenery-chewing turn from Clancy Brown as the villain.
This new version of Highlander will also take in Asia, according to Stahelski:
“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.”
Stahelski also said that martial arts will also feature, as anyone who has been alive for 500 years will have had a chance to master a few of them.
Highlander is expected in cinemas sometime in 2026, but a Queen soundtrack might be a struggle this time around.
See also: Gordon, Flash.