I’m Excited For Henry Cavill’s Highlander, But I’m Also Not Surprised By The Alleged Reasons The Reboot Shifted Studios

Ok, confession time: I’ve never seen any of the Highlander movies. I know that’s a weird thing to share considering the headline of this article, but because I’m a fan of Henry Cavill and director Chad Stahlski, I am looking forward to diving into this mythology for the first time with their Highlander reboot. At the same time, though, I do understand the reason that’s being reported on regarding why said reboot was shifted from Lionsgate over to Amazon.

For years, Lionsgate had planned to add Highlander to its staple of big franchises, which includes John Wick (which Stahelski has spearheaded), The Hunger Games and Saw. However, last month, word came in that the reboot that Amazon MGM Studios had acquired the reboot. According to The Wrap, there were three reasons why Lionsgate decided to let go of the new Highlander: budget, audience and Cavill himself.

Per the report, Chad Stahelski wanted a $180 million budget for the upcoming movie, but Lionsgate wasn’t willing to go any higher than $165 million. The studio was also reportedly “worried” that Highlander was a “one-quadrant movie” for Gen X males who remembered the 1986 original fondly. Finally, the article says Lionsgate was “slightly concerned” about delivering a movie with Henry Cavill as the lead given that The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, which came from the same studio, and Apple Films’ Argylle were both commercial flops last year.

Given that Lionsgate is one of the smaller film studios, I can understand the powers-that-be over there deciding that they didn’t want to pour resources into the project anymore. Even ignoring Cavill’s poor luck at the box office lately, $180 million, and frankly even $165 million, is a hefty asking price for restarting a property that doesn’t have nearly the amount of cache it didn’t in the ‘80s. Also, let’s not forget that none of the Highlander sequels performed nearly as well as the first movie, although the live-action TV series did fare better critically.

Now Amazon MGM Studios is taking the reims on Highlander, allowing Chad Stahelski to still fulfill his creative vision with Henry Cavill rather than see it shelved. This is the third film adaptation of an IP from the ‘80s that Amazon has coming up, the other two being next year’s Masters of the Universe and Voltron, which also stars Cavill. But as The Wrap notes, movies based off ‘80s IP in recent years have been hit or miss, so my fingers are crossed Highlander ends up being one of the former.

Highlander still doesn’t have a release date attached. However, Chad Stahelski informed Collider earlier this month, the reboot could begin filming in September, putting it o track for release sometime in 2027 or 2028.