(Left) Marisa Abela on HBO’s ‘Industry.’ Photograph by Nick Strasberg/HBO. (Right) Christopher Lambert as Connor MacLeod in 1986’s ‘Highlander.’ Photo: 20th Century Fox.
Preview:
- Marisa Abela is the latest recruit for the ‘Highlander’ reboot.
- Henry Cavill is starring in the movie.
- ‘John Wick’ veteran Chad Stahelski will direct.
The cast is slowly coming together for ‘John Wick’ director Chad Stahelski’s planned re-imagining of 1980s cult action movie ‘Highlander’.
“There can be only one.”
We recently learned that Russell Crowe will play a key role alongside Henry Cavill in the movie, and now The Hollywood Reporter has learned that ‘Industry’s Marisa Abela will also be part of the team.
Production is due to begin in September, with shooting to take place in Scotland, England, and other locales such as Hong Kong.
Related Article: Russell Crowe Joins Henry Cavill in Chad Stahelski’s ‘Highlander’ Movie
What was the story of ‘Highlander’?
Christopher Lambert as Connor MacLeod in 1986’s ‘Highlander.’ Photo: 20th Century Fox.
The 1988 original revolves around Connor MacLeod (Christopher Lambert), a Scottish Highlander born in the 16th Century who is somehow immortal. He has survived through the centuries, and learns from Juan Sanchez Villa-Lobos Ramirez (Sean Connery), that he is part of a race of many who can only die when beheaded.
The power of the slain immortal is absorbed into the victor, and they are all competing for “The Prize” –– enough power to rule Earth forever. Connor’s biggest threat is the Kurgan (Clancy Brown), a murderous brute of an immortal who wants that power for himself and Connor must face him at an event known as The Gathering.
There can, as the tagline famously reads, only be one.
Directed by Russell Mulcahy, the first film is considered a cult classic, dividing audiences into those who love it and those who think it’s so bad it’s great. The movie is famous for its sword fights and its Queen-composed soundtrack.
It spawned several sequels (including the much-maligned ‘Highlander II: The Quickening’, which attempted to introduce the idea that the immortals are aliens), various spin-off TV series plus comics, video games and a host of other merchandise.
While Stahelski clearly loves the original, he’s not above pointing out its flaws:
“There’s not a lot that happens in the second act, It’s mostly about bitchin’ flashbacks with Sean Connery mugging the camera. You watch the movie, and it has no business being good or cool or interesting, but for whatever reason — the fisheye lenses, weird sword fights, f****d up dialogue, and the Queen soundtrack make it one of the funnest movies you’ll ever watch.”
Stahelski on his plans
Chad Stahelski attends ‘Wick Is Pain’ Screening At Beyond Fest at Aero Theatre on May 08, 2025 in Santa Monica, California. Photo: Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images for Lionsgate.
Here’s what Stahelski had to say about his ideas:
“ ‘Highlander,’ I’ll tell you, if we get our s**t together and pull off a feature, we have ideas for days about the coolest characters and how to make that an epic TV show. I just think that’s a rich, rich mythology. Our story engages a lot of the same characters and stuff like that. But we’ve also brought in elements of all the TV shows, and we’re trying to do a bit of a prequel, a setup to The Gathering, so we have room to grow the property.”
As for the story:
“We’re bringing it forward from the early 1500s in the Highlands to the beyond present-day New York and Hong Kong. There’s big opportunity for action… and it’s a bit of a love story — but not how you think.”
And how he pitched it to his leading man, per Collider:
“My selling point to [Henry] was, look, you’ve got a guy that’s been alive for over 500 years. He’s the last person in the world that wanted to be in this situation. So you get to cover quite a broad spread of a character arc… and you get to experience someone that’s trained over 500 years and sort of played [with many types of] martial arts.”
The script for the new movie has so far seen work from Ryan J. Condal, Michael Finch and Kerry Williamson.
Finch’s script is the most recent draft, and via THR, it is taking some diversions from the original as it builds out a more complex and deeper world. According to sources, the feature seems to be populated by more immortals who also happen to be from various parts of the world.
Who are the new recruits playing in the ‘Highlander’ re-imagining?
(L to R) Aaron Taylor Johnson and Russell Crowe in Columbia Pictures and Marvel ‘Kraven the Hunter’. Photo: Sony Pictures.
According to current reports, Crowe will be a take on the “Spaniard” Juan Sanchez Villa-Lobos Ramirez, as brought to life by Connery (with zero hint of a Spanish accent!)
So Crowe could be showing up as a veteran immortal warrior who helps Cavill’s character achieve his destiny.
As for Abela, she apparently has one of the other lead roles, a new characters for the story, an immortal who is a teacher of swordplay and one of MacLeod’s past loves.
Where else have we seen Marisa Abela?
(L to R) Michael Fassbender as George Woodhouse and Marisa Abela as Clarissa Dubose in director Steven Soderbergh’s ‘Black Bag’, a Focus Features release. Credit: Claudette Barius/Focus Features © 2025 All Rights Reserved.
Abela got her big break in the aforementioned UK/HBO series ‘Industry’, about the lives and loves of workers in the British banking.
She recently won a BAFTA TV award for her performance in the third season of the show that has gained acclaim in both the UK and the States.
And she played singer Amy Winehouse in musical biopic ‘Back to Black’ and stole scenes from Michael Fassbender and Cate Blanchett in ‘Black Bag,’Steven Soderbergh’s spy thriller that was released earlier this year to rave reviews (albeit less than stellar box office results).
When will the ‘Highlander’ reboot be on screens?
Despite Amazon MGM’s clear enthusiasm for the movie, it is not yet at a point where the company can set a release date, but ‘Highlander’ is apparently destined for theaters rather than direct to streaming.
(L to R) Sean Connery as Juan Sánchez-Villalobos Ramírez and Christopher Lambert as Connor MacLeod in 1986’s ‘Highlander.’ Photo: 20th Century Fox.
List of Movies and TV Shows in the ‘Highlander’ Franchise:
Buy ‘Highlander’ Movies On Amazon