According to TheWrap, Summit Entertainment is looking to cast Tom Cruise as Juan Sanchez Villa-Lobos Ramirez, previously played by Sean Connery, in their Highlander remake. Summit has been attempting to get this project off the ground for years, and it looks like things are finally coming together.
However, the interest is, at the moment, one sided. Cruise is completely focused on Mission Impossible 5. If he does decide to take the role, there is a good chance his character as mentor would get beefed up to accommodate his stardom. The reboot will be the directorial debut of Cedric Nicolas-Troyan, who previously served as the second-unit director and visual effects supervisor on Snow White and the Huntsmen.
Highlander tells the story of an immortal Scottish swordsman on a quest for revenge against The Kurgan, a barbarian who has chased him across time. The original film, while not initially a box office success, went on to become a cult classic, and spawned an entire franchise of five movies, two television series, an animated series, an animated movie, ten original novels, and several comic book series.
A representative for Cruise told TheWrap that Highlander “is one of many projects that come to him and he discusses,” adding that Cruise is “far from talks” and that “he is offered tons of projects.” Art Marcum, Matt Holloway, and Melissa Rosenberg wrote the script. Justin Lin was originally set to direct, but will now executive produce.
Ryan Reynolds was originally set to star in the Highlander remake, but left due to the original director leaving over creative differences.