The main attraction at Lionsgate's CinemaCon panel yesterday afternoon was definitely actor Henry Cavill, who was there to promote the studio's next film, The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, which opens in theaters later this month.
But Cavill also briefly teased the upcoming Highlander revival from the studio, which is helmed by Chad Stahelski, the director of John Wick.
“If you thought you’d seen me do swordwork before, you haven’t seen anything yet,” teased Cavill who previously starred in Netflix's The Witcher.
Cavill implied that his initial reading of the screenplay raised some doubts for him, as he's a big fan of the original movie and there are some interesting changes to the source material.
"I’m a lover of the original movies, for better or for worse, and it’s one of those things where when I was reading the script for the first time I wasn’t quite too sure where they were going to go with it," he admitted.
But it seems Cavill was initially won over as he also teased how the reboot will better define the characters, adding, "but my goodness me oh my, we are going deep into these characters."
This closely echoes what Cavill previously stated back in February, when he remarked, "I was, am, a Highlander fan. They were great fun movies. Obviously, I watched them when I was a lot younger, and since rewatched."
"But also the TV show. I really enjoyed the lore behind it. That sense of a tragic warrior, with more of a story to tell than just a cool guy with a cool sword doing cool things. And this goes even deeper into that."
Highlander follows a fictional story that asserts that immortals exist, hidden within normal society. They must hunt and kill other immortals by beheading them in a contest known as The Gathering, which will see the last-standing immortal gain ultimate power.
While the origins of the contest is never explicitly explained, the franchise generally takes the stance that immortals have existed since the dawn of time and that the contest between them must only abide by three hard rules:
- combat on Holy Ground is forbidden
- combat must be one on one
- in the end, there can only be one.
Not too long ago, Warner Bros. Discovery announced that Cavill will not be returning to his role as Superman following the decision to revamp the DC Cinematic Universe. Cavill also recently quit his role as Geralt of Rivia on Netflix's The Witcher, citing creative differences.
Fans of the actor are hopeful that Stahleski's action expertise along with the sword skills Cavill gained from his role as Geralt will lead to a successful collaboration because longtime fans of the actor really want to see Cavill get a win.