Highlander Is Courting Dave Bautista For A Key Role, And That's Not The Only Major Movie The Dune Star Just Lined Up

Dave Bautista has already contributed to the 2025 movies schedule by starring in Paul W.S. Anderson’s In the Lost Lands, and he’ll be back in November for Trap House. But looking further ahead into the future, the Dune and Guardians of the Galaxy star has various other projects lined up, and it looks like plans are in motion to add two more to the list. Today brings word that Bautista is not only in talks to play a key role in the Highlander reboot, but also come aboard for Road House 2.

As far as Highlander goes, Deadline is hearing that Bautista is being courted to play the Kurgan, the main antagonist who was brought to life by Clancy Brown in the 1986 original. This would actually make a full circle moment for the actor, as he’d previously been cast in the same role back in 2015, but that version of the reboot ultimately fell through. As for Road House 2, no details have been shared his role in the sequel to the Amazon Prime Video subscription-exclusive movie from last year, though it’s easy enough to envision him playing a villain there, too.

Assuming Dave Bautista works out a deal with Highlander, his version of the Kurgan will clash with Henry Cavill’s Conor McLeod, with Cavill having been officially attached since 2023. In June, Russell Crowe was revealed to be playing Ramirez in the new Highlander, and Industry actress Marisa Abela has also been cast in an undisclosed role. Chad Stahelski is directing the reboot, as well as creatively overseeing both the Highlander and John Wick franchises for Lionsgate.

With Road House 2, given Dave Bautista’s experience playing action-heavy roles, it’s hard to imagine that his character wouldn’t be throwing some punches and even a few kicks, whether they’re directed at Jake Gyllenhaal’s Dalton or an enemy they share. No other castings have been reported for that upcoming movie so far. Guy Ritchie was originally set to direct Road House 2, but he departed in July, and Nobody’s Ilya Naishuller has since been hired for helming duties.

As already mentioned, Highlander and Road House 2 are just a couple of the major movies that we can look forward to seeing Dave Bautista in. For the 2026 movies schedule, he’s voicing the yet-to-be-identified villain in The Legend of Aang: The Last Airbender, which will be a theatrical release rather a Paramount+ subscription exclusive. He’ll also be in Afterburner, The Wrecking Crew and Alpha Gang, none of which have release dates yet.

For now, if you’re looking to enjoy Dave Bautista’s more recent movies, I recommend Dune: Part Two and The Last Showgirl, which can be respectively streamed with an HBO Max subscription and Hulu subscription.