'Highlander' Remake Gets a 'Fast & Furious' Director
Filed under: Deals, Movie Marketing
We all know nothing is immune to the clanking, grinding, perpetual remake machine that is Hollywood, but I'm actually a little shocked that it's taken this long for a studio to push along a remake of Russel Mulcahy's 1986 action-fantasy hybrid film Highlander. If much maligned '80s horror films like the House on Sorority Row can muster a remake, surely a franchise as storied as Highlander should be an easy target for a studio re-imagining. Five films, three television series and more comic books and novels than I care to count have been born from Mulcahy's film, and now we can add a new film from Summit Entertainment directed by Justin Lin and produced by Neil H. Moritz to the list.Lin and Moritz were the same director-producer combo that brought on the money-making fourth installment of Fast & Furious earlier this year, making the duo an easy choice for Summit to entrust their hopeful franchise-restart to. And if hiring broad-appeal filmmakers like Lin and Moritz has you worrying for the state of a new Highlander, you should also know that Summit is bringing in Iron Man screenwriters Art Marcum and Matt Holloway.
And for Highlander lore purists, the studio hasn't shown any inclination of altering the plot, which the press release announcing the news still describes as, "after centuries of dueling to survive against others like him, Connor MacLeod, an immortal Scottish swordsman must confront the last of his kind, a murderously brutal barbarian, who lusts for the fabled Prize."
There's no word yet on who will play Connor MacLeod, the character who famously shouts, "There can be only one!", but I think it's safe to say that an uberproducer like Neal H. Moritz, whose been involved with everything from I am Legend to the upcoming Green Hornet, will be attracting all manner of Hollywood hunks eager to don a kilt and start chopping some heads off.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
9-22-2009 @ 3:05PM
Scott K. said...
Ugh. A remake? Why? I like the first movie and I don't see the need.
Seriously, they should have just stopped at the first movie. (The TV series wasn't bad, but it wasn't Connor MacLeod either.)
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11-19-2009 @ 5:24PM
Coops said...
The American idiot raises it again...LEAVE HIGHLANDER ALONE YOU PRICKS......TRY TO BE ORIGINAL! IT WAS AND SHOULD HAVE BEEN LEFT ALONE! Chris Lambert is great in it........no 2nd3rd or a series, shold not have been made. LEAVE IT ALONE MORONS......IS NOTHING SACRED. I for one shall not be going to see it! as with the Wicker man, and others that the yanks think hey can better.....
9-22-2009 @ 3:18PM
JennyP said...
Why? There's nothing wrong with the original. It still kicks ass after all these years. I guess if they're going to remake it, at least give Christopher Lambert a cameo.
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9-22-2009 @ 3:33PM
Slappy said...
Oh you just know that instead of casting an adult, they are going to cast some teen like a High School Musical kid.
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9-22-2009 @ 3:46PM
Contrarian said...
These are the situations where I love playing devil's advocate. Why? Because it's SO easy.
If any movie cried out for a remake, Highlander is it. Great premise (battle of immortals) crippled by the following items:
1. Christopher Lambert: it really says something when the man's best role was as a savage raised by apes.
2. Plot-hole ridden script: finding a legendary sword in a concrete parking garage with a METAL DETECTOR?!?!?!?!? COME ON, PEOPLE!!!! And this is just one of the problems.
3. Launching a franchise on the premise of explaining away the plot holes in the first script.
4. I love Sean Connery to death, but he was ridiculously miscast as Ramirez, where his Scottish accent stood in stark contrast to Chris Lambert's obvious attempts to hide a French one.
Really, when one thinks of the first Highlander, only a couple of positives come to mind: Clancy Brown's stellar turn as the Kurgan and the music of Queen. Everything else is a mess.
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9-22-2009 @ 6:04PM
Bubbameister33 said...
Sounds like you hate the movie.
9-22-2009 @ 6:17PM
SJayH said...
I don't hate it, hence my comments about playing devil's advocate, but it played much better when I was a teenager. A remake is a good idea, at least compared to some other remakes.
9-22-2009 @ 4:53PM
ieuan said...
Ummm, Contrarian, the accents worked because both Connor & Rameriz had lived the equivalent of many lives in different places.
Highlanders does not need a remake, end of story.
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9-22-2009 @ 6:13PM
Contrarian said...
Ummm..., no. They would have worked if the characters had muddled or American accents, but much like Connery's Oscar(!) winning turn in The Untouchables (where he was supposed to be Irish--what, did Albert Finney say no?), that argument doesn't wash with me.
9-22-2009 @ 4:55PM
Astin said...
Have to agree with Contrarian. I like Highlander just fine as an idea, but it is really hindered by its shortcomings. Not the least of which is Lambert.
As for the 4 other movies? Best if they're forgotten.
That said, a remake could be even worse. But if that's the case, then it too can be ignored and the original still enjoyed.
And you know they're already calling Gerard Butler's people.
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9-23-2009 @ 3:27AM
Benny said...
Gerard Butler? He would be a great choice, but only if he´ll lose A LOT of fat.
9-22-2009 @ 5:33PM
BloodwerK said...
I'll watch it, but the original is already perfect...
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9-22-2009 @ 6:16PM
Jared314 said...
I hope they replace all the swords with walkie-talkies. That would be awesome.
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9-23-2009 @ 1:34AM
Rustin said...
Uhm...when do those who are creating a remake have to care about whether or not the first one was good?
Franchise For Fanboys=$$$ Right.
Cool story, advancement of technology for new version of F/X and whammo - you have a blockbuster.
Remember - there can be only one (hundred).
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9-25-2009 @ 6:44AM
John Ector said...
http://www.beyondhollywood.com/kevin-mckidd-offered-highlander-remake/
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11-10-2009 @ 8:28PM
Celt said...
1: why???
2: Maybe a Scot for the lead role this time?
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