We recently learned that John Wick co-director David Leitch has been signed to direct Deadpool 2. But what about his directorial partner Chad Stahelski? Don’t worry, he’s got a new project for himself, as Lionsgate has picked him to direct their long in planning reboot of the Highlander franchise.
The Hollywood Reporter broke the news on the hiring, quoting Stahelski –
I’ve been a huge fan of the original property since I saw it in high school. Such great themes of immortality, love, and identity are all wrapped up in such colorful mythology. I can’t think of a better property that gives the opportunity to create interesting characters, mythic themes and action set pieces.
Stahelski is the latest in a long line of directors who have tried to bring the project together for Lionsgate since the studio began developing it back in 2008. Over that time Justin Lin, Juan Carlos Fresnadillo and Cedric Nicolas-Troyan have all taken a swing at the project, but none have gotten it to a point where the studio was willing to give it a greenlight. Not even having Ryan Reynolds attached to star was enough for the studio to pull the trigger.
The original Highlander starred Christopher Lambert as one of a group of immortal beings who hunt each other with the promise that the last remaining immortal would receive an immensely powerful, but vaguely defined, “Prize.” Sean Connery and Clancy Brown co-starred. The film became a cult classic, and even though it had the catchphrase “There can be only one,” it spawned a number of film sequels and television spinoffs, most of which didn’t live up to the promise of the first film.
Iron Man writers Art Marcum and Matt Holloway and Melissa Rosenberg and Noah Oppenheim worked on preious drafts of the screenplay, but the Hollywood Reporter states that Lionsgate and Stahelski are looking for new scribes to start fresh.
