'Highlander' Reboot Still In The Works, Might Become A TV Series

Chad Stahelski, director of the John Wick films, has been attached to a potential Highlander reboot since 2016, but we've heard very little on the project over the years. Now, ahead of the release if John Wick: Chapter 3, Stahelski has offered an update: he still very much wants to make the reboot, but he wants to make sure he gets the complex mythology correct. That might mean creating a TV series instead of a movie.Highlander spawned six movies, three TV shows, comic books, video games, and more. In short, there's a lot of mythology surrounding this goofy story about immortal sword-fighters. With the way Hollywood operates, it's surprising it's taken so long to get a Highlander reboot off the ground. After all: established properties sell! Unless they don't!

The reason we've yet to see a Highlander reboot is because Chad Stahelski, who is attached to direct, has been taking his time, making sure he gets everything just right. "We're trying to get it done. Anyone who knows anything about the property knows it has a lot of meat to it," the director told Collider. "It's a good property. It's got a lot of potential. We're just trying to figure out the best way not to fuck it up."

That's commendable. I have no real attachment to this series, but it's good to know Stahelski cares enough to approach his work like this. The director also added:

"We're trying to design in a way that gives us a little more lead in, a little more time with the mythology and see some of the best characters. They did seven seasons of TV, and even though the TV show may not hold up today, the idea of it and the characters they brought in were super cool. So we're trying to devise a methodology that leads up to The Quickening. You just don't end with a one-on-one battle in New York, cut off a guy's head, and that's it. We want to do this in such a way that it becomes more of a series whether it's short form or long form that would let us explore that in the best way. I have a huge, heartfelt love and respect for the project, so we're trying to find the best way to do it to give fans what they want."

In other words, Stahelski just wants to find the right way to showcase the story. "Look what Netflix is doing with TV now," he said. "As an action designer myself, there are two or three episodes of Game of Thrones that blow away 90% of features. Netflix has a whole new delivery system with features on that coming off differently and letting filmmakers and directors expand out without being crushed by opening weekend box office. So there's a couple different mediums we want to explore and what is the best way to bring this out in."

Hopefully this is all good news for fans. Stahelski is determined to nail this down, no matter what. In the meantime, we can look forward to John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum, due out May 17.