Sci-Fi Film and Television Developments

Highlander

5/18/12 - Variety reported that Lionsgate-Summit is asking for Ryan Reynolds to be the next Highlander.   Ryan Reynolds has emerged as the front-runner to topline the reboot, and though it's unclear whether an actual offer has been made.  Juan Carlos Fresnadillo is on board to direct with Neal Moritz and Peter Davis producing through Moritz's Original Film banner along with Enrique López Lavigne and Belen Atienza. Justin Lin and RCR Media Group's Rui Costa Reis and Eliad Josephson will exec produce.

9/13/11 - Juan Carlos Fresnadillo will direct Summit Entertainment's re-imagining of Highlander, which will begin filming in the spring, according to The Hollywood Reporter.  Art Marcum and Matt Holloway wrote the screenplay for the new version, which is based on the original concept of an immortal Scottish swordsman who must do battle with an equally invincible barbarian. Neal H. Moritz and Peter Davis will produce along with Enrique López Lavigne and Belen Atienza.  Rui Costa Reis and Eliad Josephson of RCR Media Group, which is co-financing the picture, are executive producers. Justin Lin will be an executive producer.

2/10/11 – Variety reported that Summit Entertainment is in talks with Melissa Rosenberg to write its reboot of Highlander.  Neal Moritz will produce and Justin Lin will direct.  Longtime "Highlander" producer Peter Davis is also producing along with Moritz.  Summit plans to expand on the original Highlander premise of immortals hunting each other through the ages. The new pic will center on the immortal Scottish swordsman Connor MacLeod, who must confront a murderous barbarian -- the last of his kind -- who lusts for a fabled prize.

9/23/09 - Summit Entertainment is going to reboot the popular Highlander film franchise by handing the reins to Justin Lin.  He will direct from a script to be written by Art Marcum and Matt Holloway.  The reboot will reportedly deal with an immortal Scottish swordsman who must confront a murderously brutal barbarian, who lusts for a fabled prize.  Central to the franchise's increasingly Byzantine mythology are the sword battles in which one immortal beheads another to acquire his or her energy.

8/25/08 – A rumor has recently emerged that Scottish actor Kevin McKidd told a Dublin radio station that he has been approached to star in upcoming revamp of the Highlander franchise.  The original Highlander film, first released in 1986, starred Sean Connery and Christopher Lambert as members of a secret race of immortals fighting for the right to be the last one standing. It inspired a devoted fan following and lived on in a wide range of media, including DVD, television, video games, comics and novels.  Summit Entertainment has announced its intention to revitalize the franchise with a new theatrical film. The producers have mentioned that they would like to return to medieval Scotland in the new version.

05/21/08 - Summit Entertainment is developing a reboot movie of 1986's SF cult hit Highlander, with writers Art Marcum and Matt Holloway on board to pen the reimagining.  The original Highlander starred Christopher Lambert, Sean Connery and Clancy Brown as immortal beings battling among humans, hunting down one another and collecting more power.  Summit acquired the remake rights from Davis/Panzer Productions. Peter Davis, one of the original producers of the 1986 film, also will produce the new film.

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