The Witcher star Henry Cavill has lined up his next high-profile project. The busy actor will be starring in a reboot of the cult classic Highlander directed by John Wick‘s Chad Stahelski. Deadline reports that the project is coming from Lionsgate with Neal H. Moritz and Josh Davis producing the project, and Amanda Lewis, Patrick Wachsberger and Gregory Widen serving as executive producers. Peter Davis, who produced the 1986 original, was also involved in the project until his passing in February.
The original film starred Christopher Lambert, Sean Connery, and Clancy Brown and told the tale of Connor MacLeod, an immortal Scottish warrior who must defeat his final immortal opponent in order to claim the fabled “Prize.” Despite being famous for the line “There can only be one,” the movie inspired four sequels and three television series. At this point in time, it is unknown whether Cavill will be playing MacLeod in a complete reboot or a new character in the Highlander universe. The plot is currently being kept under wraps.
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Cavill took to Instagram to celebrate the news. “Very exciting news today! I’ve been a fan of Highlander since I was lad,” the Justice League actor wrote. “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,” Cavill concluded. “And as you can see from the swipe, I’ve lately been dipping into some of my Scottish heritage, and inadvertently getting my baseline research underway!”
Between The Witcher, Mission: Impossible, and his work in the DC Cinematic Universe, Cavill is no stranger to a franchise. He has long maintained that he would like to suit up as Superman again, most recently telling Patrick Stewart in Variety‘s Actors on Actors interview that he hoped to don the iconic cape again someday. “I’ve always been a fan of Superman,” Cavill explained. “With a character like that, you carry the mantle with you off set. And it becomes part of your public representation. When you meet children, children don’t necessarily see me as Henry Cavill, but they might see Superman, and there’s a responsibility which comes with that. Because it’s such a wonderful character, it’s actually a responsibility I’m happy to have, and I hope that I get to play more of Superman in years to come.”
