My Pitch - Highlander Reboot Sequel Pitch
I'm back on the Highlander track and this time with my sequel pitch!
I got decent feedback from the article and so I'd like to share my pitch if you havent read my first pitch then you can read it here -
http://www.comicbookmovie.com/fan_fic/news/?a=106490
Cast -
Connor MacLeod - Ryan Gosling
So let's say Gosling actually agreed/signed to do a sequel, after playing Macleod in the first movie I think it would please people to have Gosling back in the role instead of him being recast. Plus I belive that seeing Gosling in the movie would attract a wider audience.
Solomon Kane gave Purefoy the chance to show how dark a character he can play, but it was his role in Resident Evil that gave me the idea of using this guy, I was going to use him in my pitch for the first movie but felt the character would be pushed, He knows how to play a man with mystery and the way he just looks dangerous to me made him perfect.
Kane - Michael Pena
Okay so he's not the choice most would make for the role of Kane, but Pena is an interesting actor to me although he's not the actor I look for in movies his acharacter does seem to pull me in slightly, I can see him taking a darker role and playing on it to the point he almost scares you, plus a little make up and trainning would make him perfect.
Plot
Its dark and raining about a city at night, the clanging of two swords hitting each other can be heard, the camera pans atop an office building and two sword fighting figures can be seen, suddenly as the camera turns to face the city the sound of a swish is heard and then a thud before across the city we see the sparks of lighting quickly drawling across the sky, shutting down all power in the area causing a black out, after a short minute the power comes back followed by a voice over by Gosling's Connor MacLeod -
"I fought my first battle on the planes of Scotland, I had my first death in 1536...... But since then I have had many others for I am Immortal, I am not the only one and truth is you may see us every day, living besides you walking among you day by day, we fight to survive the game..... I am Connor MacLeod and I was of the Clan MacLeod"
The scene picks up at a funeral, a crowd stand around a grave mourning, Connor stands looking at the grave his eye's whelling up with tears, as people walk past him each showing respect telling him they are sorry for his loss but he seems not to take any notice, we then see him arriving at home a huge mansion, once inside he locks the door and walks into the house.
Five years pass by.....
Two kids in the street are throwing a football, the ball lands in Connors garden they both look up at the house and one says his father told him the man in the house killed his wife and hasn't been seen since, they retrieve the ball and run down the street, Connor stands unseen at the window he walks into his study and looks at a painting of Scottish countryside (the name Sam is signed at the bottom) he sits in an armchair and we are taken to a flashback, Scotland 1526 in the highlands two boys sit on a large rock looking out at the valley, One boy is a young not yet immortal Connor the other is his friend Jacob, they talk about Jacob's father being killed to which Connor wonders what happens after death, Jacob who has been taken in by the Clan's holy man say's once you die your in gods arm's.
The scene then jumps to 1536 after Connor had survived being fatally stabbed by The Kurgan, he sits in a small rock house examining his wound, an older Jacob (now played by Purefoy) he explains Connor should be dead and the clan are talking of him being in line with the Devil, Connor pleads with Jacob to understand he doesn't know why he is alive but Jacob slaps him away stating he will die, Jacob's adopted father the holy man steps in and he holds a blade to Connor, a fight starts and Connor kills the holy man accidently, Jacob lunges for Connor and is too killed.
Back in the present Connor is looking through a phone book, he call a number he was written down and speaks to an old friend they agree to meet, Connor smiles as they agree to meet in L.A. he states it'll be nice to get back to reality, In L.A. he meets 'Francis' a fellow immortal they talk and Francis laughs that he heard Connor had gotten married but Connor goes quiet, When Francis inquires whats happened Connor tells him that he had married Sam after the events of the first movie, but he had forgotten that love comes at a price for an immortal, while travelling the word together she died in a car crash and since then he has shut himself away.
After leaving the bar Francis reminds Connor that the game is still being played and the onyl way out is to let the watchers take you to the Sanctuary a place immortals go to sleep under the watch of the Watchers, Connor states even when he played he knew that the Watchers were only there so the game could go on and no immortal could win, Francis then changes the subject to Connor's original travelling of Europe after leaving Scotland for the first time.
Connor has another flashback, In Japan in 1554 still heartbroken by the loss of Heather his wife he had travelled to Japan after hearing of a Sorcerer that Connor belives can cure him of his immortality and make him mortal, he searches for days until finding the hidden cave of the sorcerer in the Japanese mountains, the sorcerer an immortal himself tells Connor that immortality can't be cured but if Connor accepts he will train him to be more prepared for the world, although he feels Ramirez taught him enough Connor accepts for a few years he learns a new form of sword play which suits his katana better.
But Connor is not the only student, Kane another immortal is also under the socerer's teaching and envy's Connor deeply for the obvious favoring the socerer gives him, Kane and Connor are tasked with climbing a tall volcano and picking a rare flower that grows there, once atop the volcano Kane reveals he will take the socerers quickening as his own, Connor states that their teacher does not play the game and Kane attacks Connor but Connor escapes before his head can be taken, Kane beats Connor back to the cave and kills their teacher.
But before the socerer dies he curses Kane to be frozen in suspenden animation, Connor sadly gathers his things and sets out to travel the world again, In the present Connor is enjoying being back in L.A. when he is met by a stranger, the stranger quickly confirms that he is an immortal and has followed his senses so that he can take Connor's quickening, the two fight and the stranger ends up loosing his sword but before Connor takes his head he warns Connor of how he escaped an immortal that was deadlier than anything he had ever faced.
Connor then decides to leave the country as he feels he is not yet ready to be back in the game, Meanwhile Francis is being followed he goes into a park planning on getting his follower by surprise but is killed by another follower and his quickening is taken, the next day Connor overhears a new report in an airport and realizes that Francis was killed, he is drawn to a public restroom and is confronted by the spirit of Ramirez in the mirror, confused by his long dead mentors sudden apperance Ramirez says he is only there as two immortals aren't playing by the rules and Connor must confront them as he managed to beat a foe he had ran from for years (The Kurgan).
Back at his home he sharpens his katana but his attention is then brought to a picture of him and Sam, at first he cries as he looks and blames himself for her death but then remembers the good times (an audio clip to what Sam said at the end of the first movie) a serious look comes over his face and he continues to sharpen his katana, in L.A. police around the crime scene of where Francis was killed talk about it possibly being a copy cat killer copying the killer from New York years ago (first movie) we see among the crowd of people watching stands Kane, a creepy smile emerges on his face as he watches, under his leather jacket we see he has ancient Japanese armour.
Connor has left his home for L.A. beliving the killer will still be there, he begins to feel a presence and follows the feeling, we see him driving out of L.A. where he reaches an old diner, in the diner he sits down and the camera pans to the right, we see someone is sat across from him in the same booth, Connor looks at them a mixture of shock and anger comes across him, Kane sits he silently stares at Connor with the same creepy smile on his face before stating "There is no need to grab your weapon, you have already lost the fight and I don't want it to begin just yet" Connor asks him how he is here beliving that he must have perished years ago when the mountain that the sorcerer's cave had been was blown away to create land for building, Connor had gone there himself to check the remains but nothing was found to which Kane laughs stating their are things the sorcerer had taught him that he didn't teach Connor.
For example he shows Connor he has the power of illusion as it turns out Kane has been sat behind Connor the whole time and the Kane that Connor was talkign to was a mental image Kane gave him, Connor asks Kane where they will face each other and Kane states there's a beautiful spot in the Nevada desert, Connor turns to Kane but Kane has already left, Connor leaves for Navada and stops in Las Vegas we see him enter an old jazz club and sits at a tabel, we see the club owner with a group of attractive women when he see's Connor he gets up and walks towards Connor.
At first he seems angry and states "In 1789 you sleep with my wife, in 1841 you sleep with another of my wives and then you did it..... " he begins to laugh and then boy embrace eachother in a hug laughing "You killed him! you beat The Kurgan!", The scene shifts to a few hours later, the sit in the corner of the club drinking and talking about Kane, The club owner names himself as Stanphen and it becomes clear that he and Ramirez where friends, he notes that he remembers the day Connor came to him and he also notes that he had a few run ins with The Kurgan, Connor asks him for a place to stay for the night.
The next morning Connor looks out at the Nevada desert from his hotel balconey, Stanphen tell's him he can feel it too but it is not calling to him, Connor bids Stanphen farewell and he leaves for the desert, reaching an old factory miles into the desert, Connor gets out and is confronted by Kane who attacks Connor sending him down a huge pipe, he lands on the floor in the factory which goes underground, he hears clapping and then "So here is the famous Connor MacLeod" coming out from the shadows a figure emerges, Connor shocked backs away stuttering "How?" the camera turns to show Jacob Kell stood in a suit.
Jacob explains that after being 'killed' by Connor all those years ago he awoke ashamed at himself for not believing his former friend, he then looked upon his dead adopted father and with anger swore revenge, using his own senses he tracked Connor down for years but always finding other immortals and collecting their quickening, finaly he found Connor's presence in Japan only to find Kane instead, the pressure of two immortals so close together broke Kane's suspended animation and the two travelled the word, he even notes that he had to let Connor face the Kurgan as "No matter how much I want your head he.... he was only scary bastard".
The two begin to fight and Connor pleads with Jacob to forgive him, after a fight in which Connor is obviously not putting his all in to, Jacob has the chance to take Connor's head with Connor willing to let him if it means that he will forgive his former friend for protecting himself Jacob seems to realize he could have spent all these years as an immortal with his friend instead of hunting him for revenge, just then Kane takes Jacobs head followed by a violent quickening sending Kane in a violent rage.
Connor has to defend himself as they race around the underground factory fighting, most of Kane's blows taking Connor back, Kane begins to chant while fighting and mystic energy flows from his sword making his blows heavier, his eyes begin to glow as the two fight across a narrow bridge, the bridge gives way and Kane forces Connor to back his way to the drop as they fight, as Connor is at the edge Kane gets ready to take a deadly blow but Connor hears Ramirez's voice in his head "Now Highlander!" and Connor strikes out taking the advantage shocking Kane, Connor's blows cutting at Kane before one final blow taking Kanes head.
Kanes quickening knocks Connor out, a week later at an airport bar a drunk buisness man listens to the new's on a tv, a report claims four heads have been taken in paris and the business man looks to his left in a drunk state saying its terrible what people come to, the camera moves to the right and we see he is talking to Connor who smiles and states "No my friend, people dont change the world does" the bartender asks Connor is he wants another drink to which Connor replies "Sorry I have a flight to catch", a short while later in the Scottish highlands Connor walks towards a moss covered bump in the ground, he kneels down ripping the moss away to show the handle of an old musket (his old sword he used as Heather's grave stone) he looks down at it and says "My sweet bonnie Heather, not a day passes that I don't miss you but I know he's there with you that sly old friend of ours, thank you for your help Ramirez, until we meet again I feel it coming I feel a game approaching"
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So there we have it folks what do you think?