The hotly anticipated Highlander reboot starring The Witcher and Man of Steel's Henry Cavill, dubbed ‘John Wick with swords’, is due out at some point in 2026.
Confirmation comes from a financial call in which Joe Drake, chairman of Lionsgate Motion Picture Group, listed Highlander among the company’s 2026 “tentpole” releases. Filming on Highlander, directed by John Wick’s Chad Stahelski, is set to commence soon following the end of the Hollywood actor’s strike, Drake added.
In August, Stahelski suggested the Highlander reboot could be the start of something big. “I think we have some very good elements now,” he said. “The trick is when you have the tagline ‘there can only be one’, you can’t just kill everybody the first time.”
He continued: “Our story engages a lot of the same characters and stuff like that,” Stahelski continued. “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.”
That’s great news for Highlander fans, with the TV series a popular addition to the franchise. Unfortunately, the plot remains firmly under wraps for the time being, and we still don’t know whether Cavill will play the legendary Connor MacLeod or even an entirely new (and potentially non-MacLeod) character.
“I've been a fan of Highlander since I was a lad,” said Cavill on Instagram when the film was announced two years ago. “From the movies in all of their 80s, Queen slathered glory to the TV show with an actor who looked remarkably like one of my brothers. Being not shy with swords, and having a director as talented as Chad Stahelski at the helm, this is an opportunity like no other.”
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
