It appears there may be life in immortality yet. While many were beginning to despair (or maybe even celebrate) that all the attempts to bring Highlander back to the screen seemed doomed to an early death, there now looks to be some sudden and distinct progress.
It's been over a decade since the acclaimed television series spin-off (starring Adrian Paul, Peter Wingfield and blues legend Jim Byrnes) went off the air and the film sequels became more and more swamped with more bizarre elements and serious in-production money problems. By the time that The Source debuted on DVD in some territories, it was clear that a mercy-killing was in order. (Impact was exclusively on set for the most recent film and though it looked fantastic and it was great to see many of he old team in front of the camera, it was clear that there were problems from the outset).
Now, industry-site Deadline is reporting that Summit Entertainment has finally found what it believes is the right director for its reboot. Previously the likes of Justin Lin (Fast & Furious) and Juan Carlos Fresnadillo (28 Weeks Later) had both been selected to helm the project but both dropped out when schedules and script became issues. Now a debut director looks to be in the frame in the form of Cedric Nicolas-Troyan who has previously served as a visual effects supervisor and second unit director on Snow White And The Huntsman.
It is believed that the script echoes many of the elements of the original 1986 film - which for the uninitiated tells the story of Conner MacLeod (Christopher Lambert), a Highland clansman who founds himself mortally wounded on the battlefield but miraculously comes back to life. He is found by Ramirez (originally Sean Connery) who explains that they are of the 'Immortal' race - they cannot die unless an opponent decapitates them and takes their lifeforce - but they are destined to fight each other until a single Immortal remains who will have all the pwoer to change the world. In the end... there can be only one and MacLeod finds himself still alive in the 20th century and heading for what he believes in the final fight with the Kurgan (Clancy Brown). The original film spawned four sequels and a well-received spin-off series that shot in vancouver and Paris for six years and returned the Highlander concept to its more creative and resonant roots - while the film series itself floundered.
Cedric Nicolas-Troyan tells Deadline that he was a massive fan of the series
“I have been working on my pitch for this since the summer, and when I got there I met the original producer and I just started geeking out and he loved it,” he said. “The first movie came out when I was a teenager in France and it was one of my favorite films of those years. I loved the series also, they shot a lot of it in France, on the Seine River. My first reaction, like everybody else, was, really, do we need a remake? Then I read the script, and I thought about how Russell Mulcahy was this super visual video director who brought the pulse of the 80s to the film so well. I started thinking about taking those great characters and matching them with a modern, visceral take, and then I was in love with the idea and I just went for it.”
There is no news about central casting as yet. Ryan Reynolds dropped out last year and though the likes of Kevin McKidd have been suggested for MacLeod, we spoke to the actor last year who confimred there'd been no approach to date...
We watch with interest...