Summary

  • Director Chad Stahelski is ionate about the Highlander franchise and sees endless opportunities to explore its mythology on screen.
  • Stahelski's involvement in the Highlander reboot is seen as a significant and important project for him, showcasing his abilities beyond being just an action director.
  • In addition to Highlander, Stahelski is also attached to a Ghost of Tsushima movie adaptation, showing his diverse range as a filmmaker.

After seven years of lingering in development, the Highlander reboot is finally moving forward and director Chad Stahelski shares new insight for his vision of the project. The 1986 fantasy action movie introduced audiences the secret world of immortals going as far back as the 16th century, who wage a war against one another across the centuries for a mysterious ultimate Prize. Stahelski, well-known for his extensive stuntwork and directing the John Wick franchise, signed on to helm a reboot of the franchise in 2016, with Cavill ing the cast in 2021.

While speaking exclusively with Screen Rant for John Wick: Chapter 4's Oscars campaign, Stahelski was asked about his vision for the Highlander reboot. The director offered a ionate explanation of why he signed on to the franchise in the first place, expressing his desire for "more Highlander" for the past 20 years and believing that its mythology has endless opportunities to explore on screen. See what Stahelski shared below:

If you're a fan at all, you know about the TV shows and the mythology there, the things that worked in the feature aspect of the franchise, what didn't. I would like to think that it has — I guess, I hope I'm bringing to it the realization of the potential that we all see in that franchise. Now, we probably don't love all the other ancillary stuff that's come out of it, but we love the potential of it. There isn't an episode of the TV show that I didn't watch hoping for more or wanting more. That's not to say they did a good or bad job, just that I want more. For whatever reason, 20 years later, I want more Highlander. I think that franchise with the mythology of people going through the centuries, and the burden of immortality as much as the wish fulfillment of immortality, you know, how you relate to people you love and don't love, both mortal and immortal, and what you can do with that is some of the most romantic, interesting, existential stuff I've ever seen. I think it's a playground for everything that I love about the John Wick series, and everything that I can't do in the John Wick series, because I'm dealing with mortals, so it gives me another realm to play in. So, I just look at it as a natural evolution of worldbuilding and potential behind that is more than any other property that I'm attached to. And I know that, so hopefully, that's where I'll put my energies and whatever talent I have.

The Highlander Reboot Is Stahelski's Most Important Project Yet

Christopher Lambert holding a sword on a mountain in Highlander.

Though Cavill has some recent exposure to the fantasy action genre with Netflix's hit The Witcher show, the Highlander reboot looks to be one of Stahelski's biggest and most important projects yet. Prior to making his directorial debut with the John Wick franchise, Stahelski was better known for his work as a Stunt and Fight Coordinator, having similarly cut his teeth in the genre with Zack Snyder's 300 as well as the Wachowskis-produced Ninja Assassin and uncredited work on the Nicolas Cage-led Season of the Witch and Keanu Reeves' 47 Ronin.

Despite this prior experience, Stahelski tackling Highlander will offer better proof of his worth as more than an action director. Having only helmed the four John Wick movies up to this point, the filmmaker has shown his ability in effective worldbuilding and thrilling action set pieces, albeit the later sequels saw some criticisms for their focus on bigger action in comparison to its character development. John Wick: Chapter 4, on the other hand, offered a better look at his ability to balance multiple story arcs while still delivering on the action audiences came to expect from the Reeves-led franchise, exploring themes of guilt and existentialism that the Highlander franchise frequently reflected on.

The Highlander reboot isn't the only exciting project on Stahelski's docket after potentially closing out the mainline John Wick franchise. The director has been attached to a Ghost of Tsushima movie adaptation since early 2021, partnering with the fairly newly formed PlayStation Productions to bring the Sucker Punch game to life. With the Cavill-led Highlander expected to begin filming in 2024, barring any further delays from the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike, it will be interesting to see what lessons Stahelski takes from the fantasy movie into his samurai-centric project.