Dave Bautista Reveals the Real Reason Henry Cavill’s Highlander Was Delayed
Dave Bautista lifts the veil on what’s stalling the Henry Cavill-led Highlander reboot, revealing at least one major roadblock behind the long-running delays.
Highlander is still happening, just... not happening yet. Dave Bautista just gave a candid update on why the Henry Cavill-led reboot keeps getting pushed, and yep, it is the kind of behind-the-scenes mess that slows everything to a crawl.
The short version
In a chat with MovieWeb's Joe Deckelmeier, the Guardians of the Galaxy star said he doesn't know every single reason for the holdup, but one thing he does know: the project switched studios this year, and that shuffle knocked a lot of dominoes over. Translation: when a movie moves homes, schedules vanish, contracts get reworked, and a fresh batch of execs want their say on the script.
"I would be speaking out of turn if I said I knew what the issues were, but obviously... they changed studios. That just changed the trajectory of everything because it just leaves everything up in the air. You start to lose your slot here and there... everybody's contracts change... [the new studio] want to look at the script... you're getting notes from, like, 20 different executives."
How we got here
- Back in 2008, Summit Entertainment bought the Highlander rights and tried to mount a reboot of the 1986 cult classic with Ryan Reynolds. That version never came together.
- Earlier this year, Amazon MGM Studios acquired the franchise. They set up a new remake with Henry Cavill as the immortal Connor MacLeod.
- The studio handoff reset plans: dates moved, deals shifted, and the script went back under the microscope, which is exactly the kind of process Bautista is talking about.
- On top of that, Cavill suffered an on-set injury, which pushed things further. The timeline was revised while he recovered.
Where Cavill stands
Bautista says Cavill is hustling to get back in fighting shape for the updated schedule.
"He's busting his ass to get healed up and come back and do it all over again, because that's what professional athletes do."
So no, the reboot isn't cursed. It's just stuck in the classic studio-change mud and waiting on its star to be 100%. When those two things clear, expect the swords to start swinging again.