Highlander director Chad Stahelski reveals his ‘selling point’ that won over Henry Cavill

Director Chad Stahelski convinced Henry Cavill to sign on to his ‘Highlander' movie by pitching the historic nature of the story.

The 56-year-old filmmaker is helming the reboot of the action-fantasy franchise, and has now revealed he managed to win over the actor, 41, by pitching the project as a martial arts-focused flick that centred around an intense character arc for Scottish swordsman Connor MacLeod.

He told The Direct: “My selling point was, to [Henry Cavill], look, you’ve got a guy that's been alive for over 500 years. He’s the last person in the world that wanted to be in this situation.

“So you get to cover quite a broad spread of a character arc there. And you get to experience someone that’s trained over 500 years and sort of played [with many types of] martial arts.”

Stahelski - who notably created the ‘John Wick’ series - added his ‘Highlander’ film would be set “beyond present-day New York and Hong Kong”, teasing that it's “a bit of a love story, but not how you think”.

He explained: “We're bringing it forward from the early 1500s in the highlands to the beyond present-day New York and Hong Kong, and seeing how it goes.

“There’s big opportunity for action. There's a chance to play a character that not a lot of people get to play. And it's a bit of a love story, but not how you think. On ‘John Wick’, I learned a lot on how to bend the storytelling a little ... another kind of myth.”

With ‘Highlander’ set to release at some point in 2026, the director revealed principal photography was due to commence “by Spring” next year.

The original ‘Highlander’ was released in 1986 and starred Christopher Lambert as MacLeod and followed the Scottish swordsman who discovers he is immortal before finding himself in a battle across centuries with other born immortals, including the evil Kurgan.

Stahelski previously expressed his excitement of getting the chance to blend period history and sci-fi with the upcoming blockbuster.

Speaking with Collider, the filmmaker said: “It’s another opportunity to do a property that I love. I love what it's about, I love working with immortality and love stories through time. I think it's a good way to take a great period piece, and sci-fi, and mix them together.”