There can be only one….director for the upcoming Highlander reboot. Though several names have been attached over the years, only one person can take the job and now it seems as if Summit has settled on Cedric Nicolas-Troyan.
If you’re not instantly familiar with the name, you’re not alone. His most notable credit is perhaps his job as second unit director and VFX supervisor on Snow White and the Huntsman (for which he earned an Oscar nom).
Nicolas-Troyan will be working off Art Marcum and Matt Holloway’s script, which he will be doing an extra pass on. Though no casting has been announced just yet, the idea is to shoot next year, so expect to hear details on who will take on the titular role in the coming months.
If I had to guess, I’d say that the studio may go with an unknown for this one. Despite Ryan Reynolds being attached at one point, he seems to be long gone and I wouldn’t be surprised if a newcomer takes the part. That wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing either, my only hope is that they stay true to the source material and to what made the original film so enjoyable.
Speaking with Deadline, Nicolas-Troyan had the following to say:
I have been working on my pitch for this since the summer, and when I got there I met the original producer and I just started geeking out and he loved it. The first movie came out when I was a teenager in France and it was one of my favorite films of those years. I loved the series also, they shot a lot of it in France, on the Seine River. My first reaction, like everybody else, was, really, do we need a remake? Then I read the script, and I thought about how Russell Mulcahy was this super visual video director who brought the pulse of the 80s to the film so well. I started thinking about taking those great characters and matching them with a modern, visceral take, and then I was in love with the idea and I just went for it.
So there you have it, Cedric Nicolas-Troyan will be taking the reigns on the Highlander reboot. What do you think? Good or bad? Let us know in the comments below.