Lionsgate is officially moving forward with its reboot of the “Highlander” franchise after multiple years in development and is aiming to begin shooting in early 2024, one of the more concrete updates we’ve seen yet on the project. A report from Deadline has revealed that the film is now heading to the American Film Market to find partners as the budget is said to be over $100 million. Which is sort of on par with what Lionsgate spent on Stahelski’s recent hit “John Wick 4.” As previously reported, British actor Henry Cavill is attached for a leading role, and screenwriter Mike Finch (“Predators,” “John Wick 4”) is said to have penned the latest draft of the script.

This comes after Stahelski has been mulling over what feature film he’d tackle next after making four straight installments of the increasingly popular “John Wick” franchise starring Keanu Reeves. “Highlander” would, of course, be an excellent excuse for Stahelski to explore different kinds of action scenes as the characters who inhabit this universe are immortals and can only be killed once their heads are severed from their bodies, usually by swords. Meaning that we’ll get plenty of swordplay in the “Highlander” reboot, something that Cavill is seemingly primed and ready for after his tenure as the lead in Netflix’s fantasy series “The Witcher.”

“There Can Be Only One,” is the main tagline and refers to the quest of immortals to be the last man standing in duels to the death, as once an immortal kills another their power/strength via the Quickening is adding to their own. However, it’s been signaled that they’re more or less going to be taking cues from both the films and the expanded television series mythology. Since they don’t want to start off the first film with all immortals dead, this was sort of retconned later in the TV adaptations to allow for great numbers of immortals both good and bad to populate the show. Watchers were introduced in the series as the mortal faction that documents and sometimes even mentors immortals as they navigate a dangerous landscape that even includes super-immortals, a few that have killed so many fellow immortals over the centuries their powers are more in the realm of super-human.

The reboot has seen different incarnations over the years from Ryan Reynolds once attached to the lead the project long before his “Deadpool” success and even had “Fast & Furious” franchise director Justin Lin involved before Stahelski was ultimately selected to helm. Cavill recently returned to feature films shooting two action films back-to-back with Guy Ritchie and seems primed to get “Highlander” in the can as well.

Another big what-if is going to be what actors they’ll be able to secure for “Highlander” as the ongoing strike between SAG-AFTRA (actors’ union) and the AMPTP (studios) has yet to be officially resolved. However, there are ongoing negotiations this week that could end up resulting in a positive outcome with a fair deal for actors.

One of the biggest aspects of the original film was the soundtrack/score handled by British rock group, Queen. It’ll be interesting to see if Lionsgate attempts to do a similar collaboration with an active metal/rock group to make sure the music is another character of the reboot.

SOURCE: DEADLINE