The Gladiator star will mentor Henry Cavill’s immortal warrior in the upcoming film from the director of John Wick.
Greetings! I am Juan Sanchez Villa-Lobos Ramirez, Chief Metallurgist to King Philip II of
Spain. Husband to a Japanese wife, father to… no one, actually, but we’ll circle back to that later, and I’m at your service. – Russell Crowe, Highlander (probably).
The long-gestating remake of bangin’ ’80s fantasy staple Highlander gets another cast member, as Russell Crowe is said to be stepping into the mentor role previously occupied by Sean Connery. This is not new territory for Crowe vis-a-vis Henry Cavill, who signed on to play heroic immortal swordsman Connor McLeod back in 2021. Crowe, of course, played Jor-El, Kryptonian father to Cavill’s Superman, for Zack Snyder in 2012’s Man of Steel.
This is the first movement we’ve seen on the long-gestating remake/reboot/whatever, which was first announced in 2008, in a while. John Wick maestro Chad Stahelski was first attached to direct back in 2016, and word is it’s a dream project for him. Prior to The Witcher star Cavill getting tapped for lead broody immortal, Kit Harington, James MacAvoy, Robert Pattinson, Stephen Amell, Sam Heughan and Charlie Hunnam were reportedly in consideration, with Ryan Reynolds briefly attached circa 2012, but pulling out almost immediately. Bullet dodged, TBH.
For those unfamiliar with Highlander, the original 1986 flick was directed by Australian Russell Mulcahy (Razorback, a ton of amazing music videos) from a script by Gregory Widen. Frenchman Christopher Lambert starred as Connor McLeod, a 15th century Scottish warrior who discovers he can only be killed by decapitation, and is forced to battle other immortals down through the centuries for some nebulous and mystical Prize.
Which is all an excuse for a bunch of rapidly edited sword duels in ’80s New York City, really. Co-starring Sean Connery as McLeod’s mentor, the Egyptian-cum-Spanish Ramirez, and Clancy Brown as the villainous Kurgan, it’s famed for its rockin’ Queen soundtrack and ludicrous accents. It also spawned numerous sequels and three TV series of wildly varying quality, so tread carefully there.
Highlander the remake is penciled in for a 2026 release last time I checked, but that assumed a May 2025 production start, and that ship seems to have sailed. But the real question is what are they gonna do about the soundtrack? The last thing the world needs is Imagine Dragons or Nickelback yodeling over the sword fights…
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