EXCLUSIVE: As they say in the Highlander franchise, “There can be only one,” and in the case of the latest reimagining’s new home, that one is Amazon MGM Studios’ studio United Artists. Sources tell Deadline that United Artists and Scott Stuber are in final negotiations to secure rights to a new version of Highlander, based on the 1980s cult classic.
The film will star Henry Cavill with John Wick director Chad Stahelski helming and will be released in theaters. Michael Finch (John Wick: Chapter 4) is penning the screenplay.
UA’s Stuber and Nick Nesbitt will produce alongside Neal H. Moritz and 87Eleven Entertainment, Stahelski’s production banner. UA has secured full rights to the franchise, which Lionsgate developed, with potential to also develop a new series. Sources close to the situation say at the end of the day, Stahelski’s vision for the film fit better into the Amazon model but added its a big win for all parties.
The original Highlander, in 1986, starred Christopher Lambert and Sean Connery and portrayed the climax of an ancient battle between immortal warriors, unfolding through interwoven past and present-day storylines. After steadily gaining popularity upon its release, the film spawned multiple sequels, a TV series and an enduring fanbase. Russell Mulcahy directed the original film, which was produced by Peter S. Davis and William N. Panzer.
The project fit for UA and Stuber, who is no stranger to taking on epic tentpoles and turning them into hits following his days as a producer and head of film at Netflix. After leaving the streamer in 2024, he had several options but chose to come to Amazon to help relaunch United Artists, and a film like Highlander is the perfect fit for the upcoming slate.
It’s a reunion at Amazon MGM for Cavill, who is headlining Rawson Marshall Thurber’s feature adaptation of the popular anime series Voltron. Cavill is also developing the Warhammer 40,000 franchise across all Amazon MGM productions.
Stuber is currently working on several films with UA including Kill Your Darlings, based on bestselling author Peter Swanson’s forthcoming novel and starring Julia Roberts, and a film from Edward Berger based on the forthcoming memoir from Evan Gershkovich, the Wall Street Journal reporter who was imprisoned in Russia for more than a year. Other upcoming projects for Stuber include Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein for Netflix; Deliver Me From Nowhere, the Scott Cooper-directed drama that stars The Bear‘s Jeremy Allen White as Bruce Springsteen as the singer hit an existential crossroads and turned it into the seminal album Nebraska, for 20th Century Studios and Disney; and Panic Carefully, Sam Esmail’s upcoming thriller starring Julia Roberts for Warner Bros.
Cavill is represented by WME and Sloane, Offer, Weber & Dern. Stahelski is represented by WME and Johnson Shapiro Slewett & Kole. Finch is represented by Verve Talent and Literary Agency and Kleinberg Lange Cuddy & Carlo.
