HIGHLANDER Reboot Finds New Home at Amazon MGM After Lionsgate Reportedly Lost Faith in Henry Cavill

The Highlander reboot starring Henry Cavill is proepering for production, but it’s reportedly not moving forward with the studio that had been developing it for years.

According to a recent report from The Wrap, Lionsgate ultimately passed on the project after balking at both the budget and a lack of faith in Cavill’s current box office draw. So, Amazon MGM Studios has stepped in, ready to bring a new generation of immortals to life.

At the center of this behind-the-scenes shuffle is director Chad Stahelski (John Wick), who had requested a $180 million budget to fully realize his vision of the Highlander universe. Lionsgate, however, wasn’t willing to go higher than $165 million.

That $15 million difference, combined with mounting concerns about Cavill’s recent performance at the box office, proved to be a dealbreaker.

It’s worth noting that Highlander, while containing visual effects, is largely a grounded action film that leans heavily on swordplay, practical stunts, and martial arts choreography. That’s Stahelski’s bread and butter. The first three John Wick films were made for a fraction of the cost: $30 million, $40 million, and $75 million, respectively.

But Lionsgate’s hesitation reportedly ran deeper than just production numbers. According to the report, executives were concerned about Cavill’s diminishing returns as a box office draw.

The most recent examples? Argylle, which had a reported budget of $70–80 million, with Apple spending $200 million for global rights, grossed just $96.2 million worldwide and earned tepid reviews. Then there’s The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, which Lionsgate released in North America. Despite a $60 million budget, it brought in only $29.7 million globally.

Studio sources went even further, telling The Wrap that Highlander was seen as "Highlander is a one-quadrant movie, catering to Gen X males who remembered the original movie (and the sequels and syndicated TV series that followed)." So, the studio didn’t see enough mainstream appeal to justify the investment.

Enter Amazon MGM Studios, who is already collaborating with Cavill on other projects including a high-profile live-action Voltron remake and the Warhammer 40,000 cinematic universe. Amazon saw the value in pairing Stahelski’s vision with Cavill’s star power. Now, the reboot has a new home and fresh momentum.

Stahelski recently shared that the plan is to begin filming Highlander in September, with an eye toward a 2027 or 2028 release.

Highlander began in 1986 with Christopher Lambert starring as Connor MacLeod, an immortal warrior battling others of his kind across centuries. The film spawned four sequels, a popular 1990s TV series starring Adrian Paul as Duncan MacLeod, and multiple spin-offs.

The core mythology is simple but really cool with immortals having existed since the dawn of time, and they’re locked in a centuries-long “Contest” that must follow three unbreakable rules: Combat must be one-on-one; Holy Ground is off-limits, and In the end, there can be only one.

In a previous conversation, Stahelski talked about his pitch to Cavill and why this role stands apart:

“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.”

The filmmaker also previously teased the action in the film and explained that it will be inspired by the action in the John Wick films.

"I'll keep it to the core. Most audiences, I'll use the gun analogy, most of what you know about gunfights or car chases because most of us don't get involved in gun fights, or car chases, or sword fights, we learn through movies.”

"And what those movies show you is about 95% bullshit. You don't fight 50 guys with your bare hands and then walk away, but it's fun. It’s wish fulfillment.

“So John Wick, we know it's a cartoon – I know it's not – but we also have fun with it. But we do tactical reloads, we try to do fire manipulations, stuff like the professionals do, the military do. But then we have fun with it, you know? Sword work is very much the same."“

Cavill previously shared how big of a fan his is of the franchise and then said that the script for the film is “extraordinary” and that the movie will take some “big swings.” He said:

"I am a Highlander fan, they’re great fun movies. Obviously I watched them when I was a lot younger and have since rewatched, but also the TV show.

“I really enjoyed the lore behind it, that sense of a tragic warrior with more of a story to tell than a cool guy with a sword, doing cool things, and this goes even deeper into that.

"What they’ve done so far and we’re doing with the development of the script is extraordinary, I think people are going to be really, really pleased.

“Big swings are important, you play it safe, you’re going to just go, 'Eh, I suppose it’s fine?" but if you take a big swing, people love it or they hate it."

Stahelski also explained that they are taking the best story elements from across the franchise and implementing it all into one story that will be spread out across a trilogy of films:

"I think the TV series hit on a lot of great stuff wasn’t in the feature, between the watchers and all the different types of immortals. How do we get this into a feature mode before we dribble it into the TV world?

“Well, let’s restructure it in parts, let’s look at it like it was a TV show, let’s look at it like it was a high-end trilogy. How to we tell the story of The Gathering, The Quickenings, The Immortals and how do we really build this world out even more so than the original project?

“That’s what we’re restructuring right now. It’s taking all the good stuff that we had before I was involved in the project from the script; redeveloping the script to give us really good chapters one, two and three; and expanding the world."

He also talked about his vision for the film, saying: "

The vision we’re trying to get across and what we’re trying to develop, I equate very close to Star Wars. The first one is a very satisfying ending but it does leave the door open and that’s kind of how I see this.

“I would really like to expand it over three. I see The Gathering happening over three. It’s tricky, don’t get me wrong, that’s why we’re still developing it. We want to be able to tell three complete stories that all kind of fit.

“I think the Star Wars trilogy, at least up to The Empire Strikes Back, is a good example of how we want to process it."

I’m pumbed up about this movie and I have no doubt it’s going to be a badass film. I hope that it ends up being a huge success at the box office, but only time will tell.