The upcoming Henry Cavill-led Highlander reboot now has some exciting new plot details and a confirmed filming start window.
Highlander's story follows Connor MacLeod, a Scottish Highlander from the 16th century who is immortal—–unless beheaded. Others like him exist throughout the world, and they often clash in battle throughout time.
The franchise has gone on to spawn five live-action films, one animated movie, and a spinoff television series.
A remake of the movie was announced in 2008, but John Wick director Chad Stahelski was not attached until November 2016, and Henry Cavill was not brought on as its lead star until 2021.
In 2023, while promoting John Wick Chapter 4, Stahelski updated fans on the Highlander project, saying he was still "trying to figure out ways to work out a way to bring Highlander to fruition."
New Details About Henry Cavill's Highlander Revealed
While promoting the tenth anniversary of the original John Wick film, director Chad Stahelski spoke with The Direct's Russ Milheim, where he pulled the curtain back on some exciting details about his upcoming Highlander film with Henry Cavill.
The filmmaker revealed that the story will be set in "beyond present-day New York and Hong Kong," teasing that it's "a bit of a love story, but not how you think:"
"... And we're bringing it forward from the early 1500s in the highlands to the beyond present-day New York and Hong Kong, and seeing how it goes. There's big opportunity for action. There's a chance to play a character that not a lot of people get to play. And it's a bit of a love story, but not how you think. On 'John Wick,' I learned a lot on how to bend the storytelling a little... another kind of myth."
He went on to note that his selling point to Henry Cavill was the main character's intense character arc as someone who has "been alive for over 500 years" as a veteran martial artist:
"My selling point was, to [Henry Cavill], look, you've got a guy that's been alive for over 500 years. He's the last person in the world that wanted to be in this situation. So you get to cover quite a broad spread of a character arc there. And you get to experience someone that's trained over 500 years and sort of played [with many types of] martial arts..."
Stahelski also revealed that they hope to begin principal photography "by Spring [2025]."
The film will mark the latest major franchise for Henry Cavill to attach himself to. Many fans know the actor from his time playing Superman in Zack Snyder's DCEU, but in recent years he has proven to be an action star beyond that.
The actor has recently starred in action films like Apple TV+'s Argylle, the Netflix detective franchise Enola Holmes, and Guy Ritchie's The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare to name a few.
He also has vowed to bring the beloved sci-fi world of Warhammer 40K to the big screen for the first time, calling the upcoming film, "the greatest privilege of [his] professional career" (read more about Henry Cavill's upcoming projects here).
Highlander does not have an official release date yet, but it is expected to hit theaters at some point in 2026.
