Henry Cavill stepped away from the lead role of Netflix’s hit series The Witcher, found himself out of another job with James Gunn’s recent DC Universe reboot with Superman, and now, his latest role is being postponed due to a personal injury.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Cavill was in the thick of doing prep work to begin shooting on Chad Stahelski’s upcoming Highlander reboot, but has unfortunately suffered an injury, postponing production.
Latest Highlander reboot production delay
The film, a reboot of the iconic ‘80s fantasy franchise, has been delayed several times over for multiple years now. However, the combination of the director of the John Wick franchise (Stahelski) and the physically imposing and highly capable mobility of Cavill (if you don’t believe this endorsement, check out that bathroom fight scene in Mission: Impossible – Fallout once more for proof) has held such immense promise that anticipation and fervor have persisted through the years.
Earlier this year, it looked as if things were finally moving along smoothly with the project, as Cavill spoke openly about how excited he was to begin filming.
As we previously reported, joining Cavill in the Highlander cast includes Russell Crowe, Dave Bautista, Karen Gillan, and Marisa Abela.
THR says pre-production was so far along that the film was set to begin rolling cameras as soon as the next few weeks, but Cavill’s injury has delayed and possibly even derailed all of those plans. While the exact nature of Cavill’s injury has remained under wraps, it was clearly severe enough that the production did not feel comfortable moving forward at this time.
Before making the leap to directing with the John Wick franchise, Stahelski was a stunt performer who worked extensively on The Matrix films alongside the directors, the Wachowskis. Famously, mere weeks before production was slated to begin on the first Matrix film, Keanu Reeves injured his neck.
While there were doubts about whether or not he’d still be able to participate in the film, he ultimately did with the assistance of stunt performers like Stahelski and coordinators who reworked much of his fight choreography so as to apply less stress to his neck muscles.
As such, it’s apparent that if Highlander is pushing back its production date, this is no mere sprain of the ankle on Cavill’s part, but a truly detrimental injury.