Henry Cavill dealt devastating blow as injury forces Highlander shoot to delay until 2026

British star Henry Cavill has reportedly been injured while training in pre-production for Highlander (Picture: EPA)

Henry Cavill has reportedly been injured while preparing to film Highlander, a long-gestating passion project for many.

It is understood that the 42-year-old actor hurt himself while training during pre-production for the Amazon MGM Studios’ United Artists film, although the nature of his injury is unknown.

Due to Cavill’s claimed injury, Deadline has reported that principal photography for the Chad Stahelski-directed revival of the hit 1986 action-fantasy film will now be delayed until ‘likely’ early 2026.

The blockbuster remake also stars Nuremberg actor Russell Crowe, Marisa Abela, Karen Gillan, Djimon Hounsou and Dave Bautista, who is thought to have been cast as the villain.

The original Highlander famously starred Christopher Lambert as hero Connor MacLeod, a sixteenth-century Scottish swordsman living as an antiques dealer in 1980s New York, who finds himself in a battle across centuries with other born immortals, including the evil Kurgan (Clancy Brown).

It also featured Sir Sean Connery as Juan Sánchez-Villalobos Ramírez, an Egyptian immortal, as well as Roxanne Hart, Beatie Edney, Celia Imrie, James Cosmo, Billy Hartman and Hugh Quarshie.

While the nature of his injury is unknown, it’s understood the long-awaited reboot can’t begin shooting until early 2026 now (Picture: Getty) Christopher Lambert (pictured with co-star Beatie Edney) originally played immortal Scottish swordsman MacLeod in the 1986 version (Picture: Moviestore/Shutterstock)

The franchise gathered a huge following in the 1980s home video era, producing four films, two live-action TV series and multiple novels.

Superman star Cavill spoke about taking on the role of MacLeod in the reboot at CinemaCon in April 2024, revealing he was already doing extra preparation for the production.

Referencing his past Netflix show The Witcher, he teased: ‘If you thought you’d seen me do sword work before, you haven’t seen anything yet.’

Stahelski, 56, jumped on board the Highlander remake, which was previously a Lionsgate release, in 2016.

Speaking about the upcoming film in 2023, the filmmaker told the Happy Sad Confused podcast: ‘I think we have some very good elements now. The trick is when you have the tagline, “There can only be one”, you just can’t kill everybody the first time.

Cavill told fans last year of his previous sword work compared to that in Highlander: ‘You haven’t seen anything yet’ (Picture: Katalin Vermes/Netflix/Kobal/Rex/Shutterstock) The original film spawned a huge franchise and an enduring fanbase around the world (Picture: 20th Century Studios)

‘I’ll say it for you first, our story engages a lot of the same characters and stuff like that, but we’ve also brought in elements of all the TV shows, and we’re trying to do a bit of a prequel, a set-up to The Gathering [a 1992 episode of the series], so we have room to grow the property.’

Cavill became attached to the project in 2021, and Stahelski – who also created the John Wick series – convinced him to do the movie by pitching the historic nature of the story.

‘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,’ Stahelski explained to The Direct in 2024.

‘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.’

The Ballerina producer added his Highlander film would be set ‘beyond present-day New York and Hong Kong’ as well as 1500s Scotland, teasing that it’s ‘a bit of a love story, but not how you think’.

Cavill, pictured discussing Highlander at CinemaCon 2024, has been attached since 2021 (Picture: Valerie Macon/AFP via Getty Images) Director Chad Stahelski has said of the new version that it will also bring in elements of the TV show and act as a bit of a prequel (Picture: Moviestore/Shutterstock)

Cavill – who is also developing a live-action Warhammer franchise with Amazon MGM Studios – had just recently spoken about his excitement for Highlander, confirming that the reboot had ‘all of [his] focus’ during the summer.

‘It’s a project that I’m extremely excited about. This character is going to be a lot of fun to play, and I’m loving working with Chad Stahelski. He is a very talented man,’ Cavill told The Hollywood Reporter at the start of August.

Filming for Highlander is understood to have initially started in January in Scotland, with Amazon MGM Studios originally targeting a 2026 release for the movie.

How the latest development affects that remains to be seen.

Metro has contacted reps for Amazon MGM Studios and Henry Cavill for comment.

Got a story?

If you’ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us [email protected], calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we’d love to hear from you.

Comments