Why Dave Bautista Believes His 80s Action Fantasy Reboot With Henry Cavill Has Been Delayed So Much [Exclusive]

Fans have been eagerly anticipating a reboot of the 1980s fantasy adventure film, Highlander, which starred Christopher Lambert as the immortal Connor MacLeod. The project faced numerous delays for years, but seemed to be progressing this year until Henry Cavill, who was set to lead the new film, was injured during training. According to his co-star, Dave Bautista, this injury is just the latest in a series of setbacks that have plagued the film’s development.

Dave Bautista will play The Kurgan in Amazon’s new version of Highlander, a role famously played by Clancy Brown in the original 1986 film. Interestingly, Bautista was cast for the part ten years ago, before Chad Stahelski became the director. So, what’s caused the delay in getting the reboot made? Bautista explained to MovieWeb’s Joe Deckelmeier that it’s simply due to the constantly shifting nature of the film industry.

I shouldn’t pretend to know all the details, but it’s clear the studio change caused major problems. It completely disrupted everything – schedules were lost, plans had to be reworked, and everyone’s contracts were affected. The new studio wanted to revise the script from scratch, leading to feedback from a huge number of people. I think that was a significant factor in what happened.

Many people may not know that the rights to the Highlander movies were first bought by Summit Entertainment back in 2008, with plans to remake the original 1986 film. The project went through several changes, including different directors, writers, and even a potential star in Ryan Reynolds. However, it never quite got off the ground. More recently, Amazon MGM Studios acquired the rights, and while filming was originally scheduled to start this September, it’s now been delayed until 2026 due to an injury Henry Cavill sustained during training.

Dave Bautista Says Henry Cavill Was Training “Like a Professional Athlete”


Susie Allnutt / ©Netflix / Courtesy Everett Collection

Fans were understandably upset to hear about Henry Cavill’s injury, especially since they were excited to see him play MacLeod. However, Dave Bautista wasn’t shocked. “He was training incredibly hard, like a true athlete,” Bautista explained. Having been a professional athlete himself – and suffered injuries during his time with WWE – Bautista understands how these things happen.

He’s impressed by how Henry Cavill is recovering from a tough situation, both physically and emotionally. “He was working incredibly hard every day. I was amazed by his dedication,” he explained.

He trained incredibly hard, just like a professional athlete. As a result, he got hurt. Now he’s working tirelessly to recover and get back to training, because that’s the life of a pro athlete. He’s really pushing himself, and it shows – he looks the part, completely dedicated and in peak condition.

We don’t yet know how well Henry Cavill is recovering, but he posted some pictures on Instagram on October 1st showing him working out, which suggests he’s keen to return to filming. We’ll share updates on the Highlander reboot as soon as we have them.

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2025-11-09 17:03