Thanks to the guys at
/Film who turned me on the fact that Summit Entertainment have announced that
Fast & Furious helmer
Justin Lin will be rebooting
Highlanderfor them. It might seem a strange one, considering Lin's path to this decision (albeit besides the excellent
Better Luck Tomorrow- where did it all go wrong, Justin?!), but the news is made slightly more tolerale by the fact that Lin will be joined by
Iron Man scribes
Art Marcum and
Matt Holloway.
I have always seen the
Highlander franchise as a series of missed opportunities- the greatest being that none of the movies ever lived up to the potential offered by the central premise- the battle of the immortals, and the second greatest being the attrocious decision to cast
Christopher Lambert- an error in judgement that is almost as clouded by empty fan-boy rhetoric as
Sting's woeful turn in
Dune. At least this new franchise (or so it appears it is intended to be) will be able to address the imbalance and cast someone with a little more charisma. Difficult to pinpoint anyone for the lead role- I doubt
Ewan McGregor would go anywhere near it- but he should. I just hope they dont go for
Paul Walker. Forgive me for posting the full press release now, I just love the sycophancy of these things. Like I mentioned before, empty rhetoric:
"SUMMIT ENTERTAINMENT HARNESSES FILMMAKING TEAM BEHIND FAST & FURIOUS FOR THE STUDIOS RE-IMAGINATION OF HIGHLANDER Acclaimed Action Director Justin Lin and Producer Neal H. Moritz Join IRON MAN Screenwriters Marcum and Holloway, Original HIGHLANDER Producer Peter Davis on Board Los Angeles, CA September 22, 2009 Summit Entertainment announced today that it has tapped the filmmaking team behind this springs hit film FAST & FURIOUS director Justin Lin and producer Neal H. Moritz to direct and produce respectively the studios re-imagination of the cult film HIGHLANDER. Summits HIGHLANDER is being written by IRON MAN screenwriters Art Marcum and Matt Holloway. Peter Davis, long time producer of HIGHLANDER, will also produce the film. Summit acquired the rights to remake the cult classic from Davis - Panzer Productions, Inc. in May of 2008. Summits film will expand on the original HIGHLANDERs core mythology of immortals battling amongst us, hunting each other through the ages by tapping its newly minted creative team to take its re-imagination to new heights. Plans call for the re-imagination to spur a new franchise for the studio. We are privileged to have this amazing opportunity to reinvent one of the great franchises, said Patrick Wachsberger, co-chairman of Summit Entertainment. Neal and Justin have proven more than once that they can deliver an entertaining and exciting blockbuster. Added Peter Davis of Davis-Panzer Productions, Justin and Neal are an exciting directing/producing team and I am confident that they will deliver a truly dynamic film while being totally respectful of HIGHLANDER Legend. In HIGHLANDER, after centuries of dueling to survive against others like him, Connor MacLeod, an immortal Scottish swordsman must confront the last of his kind, a murderously brutal barbarian, who lusts for the fabled Prize. Justin Lin most recently directed the hit action film FAST & FURIOUS, the fourth film of the FAST & FURIOUS franchise. He also directed THE FAST & THE FURIOUS: TOKYO DRIFT, and BETTER LUCK TOMORROW. In addition to FAST & FURIOUS, Neal Moritz and his Original Film banner have produced a myriad of action films including the upcoming FLASH GORDON and THE GREEN HORNET as well as I AM LEGEND, 2 FAST 2 FURIOUS, and I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER. Lin and Moritz are represented by CAA. About Summit Entertainment, LLC Summit Entertainment is a worldwide theatrical motion picture development, financing, production and distribution studio. The studio handles all aspects of marketing and distribution for both its own internally developed motion pictures as well as acquired pictures. Summit Entertainment, LLC also represents international sales for both its own slate and third party product. Summit Entertainment, LLC plans to release 10 to 12 films annually."
Understatement- know thy enemy!