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Dave Bautista is reportedly in final talks with Amazon MGM United Artists to play the villain known as The Kurgen in Highlander, a remake of the cult classic that thrilled audiences in the 1980s. Also appearing in the upcoming film will be Henry Cavill and Russell Crowe,with Cavill playing the role of MacLeod and Crowe assuming the character of Ramirez. The villainous Kurgen was played by Clancy Brown in the original movie.
The remake, to be directed by Chad Stahelski, will begin shooting in September at locales in the UK and Hong Kong. The script for the remake has been written by Michael Finch. It’s being produced by Scott Stuber and Nick Nesbitt along with Neal H. Moritz, Stahelski’s 87Eleven Entertainment, Josh Davis of Davis Panzer Productions, and Louise Rosner.
Bautista has also appeared in other Amazon productions, including action comedies like My Spy and The Wrecking Crew. He’s also talking with Amazon about a starring role in its sequel to The Roadhouse. The actor is represented by WME, Meisner Entertainment Group and Jackoway Austen.
Originally released in 1986, Highlander starred Christopher Lambert as Connor MacLeod, a Scottish Highlander and immortal warrior who battled similar warriors across the centuries with the assistance of Ramirez, a swordsman played by Sean Connery. It was not a commercial success, grossing only $13 million on a $19 million budget, and it received mixed reviews but it quickly became a cult classic.
Gregory Widen wrote the original script for the 1986 film. He was quoted as saying: “The idea of the story was basically a combination of a riff on The Duelists–guy wants to finish a duel over years—and a visit I made both to Scotland and the Tower of London armour display, where I thought, ‘What if you owned all this? What if you’d worn it all through history and were giving someone a tour of your life through it?’ That scene is basically in the movie.”
This is not the first time a remake of Highlander has been proposed. In 2015, Cedric Nicolas-Troyan tried to create one for Summit Entertainment.
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