Justin Lin to Direct Highlander Reboot
Last year it was announced that a Highlander remake was on the way, with Iron Man writers Art Marcum and Matt Holloway hired to give a fresh new take on Russell Mulcahy’s original 1986 film that would lay the groundwork for a franchise reboot. Considering that the Highlander series had slowly descended into the depths of direct-to-DVD hell over the past 20 years, I don’t think anyone was too surprised by this move. The question remains though… can Highlander actually be repackaged and sold to a new generation?
This week Summit Entertainment has apparently found a couple of people who they feel can pull it off: director Justin Lin and producer Neal Moritz, who previously worked together on the last two installments of The Fast and the Furious series. Lin’s directing credits also include the crime thriller Better Luck Tomorrow, boxing drama Annapolis, and mockumentary Finishing the Game. Well, I guess if you want someone to update Highlander and make it cool and bankable, then Lin and Moritz are probably a good choice. I can tell you this though… there’s a pretty slim chance that their take on Highlander will be anything I’m interested in. What do you think, is this good or bad news? Does Highlander deserve a remake or should they just leave it alone?
Comments (13)
Well, considering that each one was seemingly a remake since none of the damn movies makes any sense with each other, I guess one more reboot isn’t a bad idea. As long as it lays down a firm mythology that can be followed up on in future movies. Screw it, just watch the TV show.
Posted by Justice on September 22nd, 2009Well they aren’t the ones writing the script. Justin Lin was hired to direct what’s on paper, not have any substantial input in it.
Posted by Slushie Man on September 22nd, 2009My favorite part of the original movie was the flashbacks. I’d be neat to see a Highlander movie set in the past. I haven’t followed Hightlander past the third movie, so I don’t know if they’ve already done this or not. I never got into the tv series either. Maybe each movie in the new series could follow the Highlander through a different time period…
Posted by paulm on September 22nd, 2009I need to watch the first film but I like the idea of a reboot after reading about the issues with the sequels.
Posted by Byron on September 22nd, 2009I hope the reboot takes inspiration from Highlander: The Animated Series. I’d like to see Quentin MacLeod on the big screen.
Not really.
Posted by mrbenning on September 22nd, 2009The animated movie was friggin a hot, bloody, violent, amazing, mess and I would love to see it live-action.
A post-apoctalyptic Highlander – with only a scant few immortals left with their heads – with flashes all the way back to ancient Rome and further would be pretty damn cool IMHO.
I doubt anyone has the balls to try it though… No, chances are this will be a pathetic, wire-fu, emotionless piece of crap complete with some teeny-bopper dipshit as the lead. 2Fast 2Furious with swords and horses instead of guns and life-size micro-machines.
Posted by Shut-Up Ed on September 22nd, 2009one of the true visionaries in film can now finally reach his full potential with an astounding project like this.
Posted by mitch on September 22nd, 2009Look we need this! BUT with these guy’s i don’t know, this is a wait and see project.
Posted by Machete on September 23rd, 2009This could be good? Even though I hate summit for bringing the Twilight series to life. Why????!! Fuck Off Twilight!!! You Suck!!
Posted by DeadFox on September 23rd, 2009Twilight suck’s not sir, because there’s no Vampire’s in the movie’s.
Posted by Machete on September 23rd, 2009The Highlander movies were never particularly good in the first place. There’s no way he could make it any worse than the sequels.
Posted by stevie_baby on September 23rd, 2009This is an interesting idea. The original story was told in an amazing way, with the flashbacks. However, IMHO, the fades to the flashbacks and back to present were so memorable. The plethora of Queen music in the soundtrack also made it quite enjoyable, even after years of re-viewing it. A remake just criples the reboot because it falls to MacLeod getting the prize which was the original end of the story. The follow on movies and series kind of broke the whole mythos of the original storyline because there were again immortals in modern day, or ignores what MacLeod did with the “Prize”. And having to rethink the whole mythos with Ramirez being approximately 3000 years old and the Kurgan’s ruthless pursuit of the immortals seems like it would just open a new can of worms.
I don’t know the director, and I’ve already seen a really bad rebranding of Highlander (ie Highlander 2) and hope that we won’t see a Matrix’izing of the reboot.
New flashbacks with equally well produced fades and some way to retell the story and solidify the mythos is probably the only way that a new generation of Highlander has a chance of catching on.
Posted by Ben on October 7th, 2009How about Highlander Imax 3D. Imagine feeling like you were the one up against another immortal. Here comes the sword…duck!
Posted by Katherine on October 15th, 2009Leave a Reply