The rumors appear to be true: Ryan Reynolds has been cast as Connor MacLeod in Juan Fresnadillo's Highlander remake, after what The Tracking Board is calling "roughly a month of negotiations." It's the same role that made Christopher Lambert a star back in 1986. Since Ryan Reynolds is already a star, we have to assume that this new Highlander will turn him into Christopher Lambert.
Juan Carlos Fresnadillo is directing the remake after cutting his teeth on films like Intacto, 28 Weeks Later and Intruders. The plot, as if you didn't know, follows a small group of immortals throughout the centuries as they duel each other to win the ultimate prize: which turned out, in the original film, to be mortality. Which is really kind of odd, if you think about it. They're fighting each other to the death... for the ability to die? They already can die, so they're just fighting to be allowed to grow old and then die? It must be one of those "grass is always greener" things.
Though well-liked by most, Ryan Reynolds has had some difficulty segueing from comedian to action star. Blade Trinity bombed, X-Men Origins: Wolverine has few fans, Green Lantern should be spoken of as little as humanly possible and Safe House, while successful, benefitted from Reynold's high profile co-star. It's been argued, however, that Reynolds was not the fundamental problem with any of the above films. With Fresnadillo at the helm, will Highlander be the action franchise he's been looking for all these years?
