The Highlander Remake, Like Highlanders, Is Basically Unkillable

The Highlander Remake, Like Highlanders, Is Basically Unkillable

Like an immortal Scottish warrior who slips through the sands of time, assuming new identities until he comes to manage a New York City antiques shop, rumours of a Highlander remake will never die. But now, they may not be mere rumours, because a director has just signed onto the project.

A scene from Highlander (1986), which has some of the greatest montage sequences of all time ever.

It’s Chad Stahelski, whose filmmaking resume consists of co-directing (with David Leitch) hitman flicks John Wick and next year’s John Wick: Chapter 2. But notably, he has an established background in kickboxing and martial arts. He’s a former stunt double whose biggest gigs include The Matrix (working with eventual John Wick star Keanu Reeves) and The Crow, where he filled in after Brandon Lee’s fatal on-set accident. With his extensive career as a stunt coordinator, Stahelski seems very well-suited to tackling something as fight-oriented as Highlander. There’s also this fun fact, as noted by The Hollywood Reporter, which broke the story:

“I’ve been a huge fan of the original property since I saw it in high school,” Stahelski told The Hollywood Reporter. “Such great themes of immortality, love, and identity are all wrapped up in such colourful mythology. I can’t think of a better property that gives the opportunity to create interesting characters, mythic themes and action set pieces.”

Lionsgate, which is currently looking for a screenwriters to join the project, has been trying to remake Highlander since 2008. Will this be the version that finally sticks — or will someone realise once and for all that no matter how much fan-love is behind the remake, improving on the original will be impossible? (Add your own “there can be only one” joke here.)


The Cheapest NBN 50 Plans

It’s the most popular NBN speed in Australia for a reason. Here are the cheapest plans available.

At Gizmodo, we independently select and write about stuff we love and think you'll like too. We have affiliate and advertising partnerships, which means we may collect a share of sales or other compensation from the links on this page. BTW – prices are accurate and items in stock at the time of posting.