Highlander Remake Stumbles: Henry Cavill’s Injury Likely Shifts Shoot to 2026

Hey, Riley here, your go-to for the latest scoop with that millennial shrug and just enough bite to keep you scrolling. Okay, but like, let’s talk Highlander and the latest plot twist that seems to be slowing down the immortal swordsman saga. Henry Cavill, who was locked in to star as Connor MacLeod in the Amazon MGM Studios remake of Highlander, reportedly suffered an injury while training for the film. Deadline flags the incident as a real hiccup for a production that was already juggling corporate shifts and a newly minted studio banner. The injury is described as unspecified in the initial reporting, leaving fans and industry watchers to fill in the blanks with cautious speculation rather than rumors.

This isn’t just a single actor’s misadventure. The Highlander project has lived in development limbo for years, bouncing between Lionsgate and now the United Artists banner under Amazon MGM Studios after the deal closed in 2022 and 2023. The cast photo op moments were there, with Russell Crowe, Dave Bautista, Marisa Abela, Karen Gillan, Djimon Hounsou, and Max Zhang lining up as potential co-stars, creating a kind of superhero-meets-sword-slinging ensemble that felt like a major tentpole in the making. Yet the health and training status of its lead can realign timelines in a hurry, especially for an epic that leans on the sword-fighting spectacle and mythic immortality that defined the original 1986 film.

The original Highlander, starring Christopher Lambert and Sean Connery, became a cult phenomenon and spawned sequels and a TV series that kept the flame alive across decades. Chad Stahelski, known for the John Wick franchise, has long talked up a vision for a remake that goes beyond a quick action movie. He warned against a rushed, “haphazard” reboot and stressed the need to build a universe that could host film and possibly a TV extension. Cavill himself addressed the project with a mixture of reverence for the source and curiosity about the direction in CinemaCon 2024, noting that he loved the original and was curious where the new script would take him. That moment of candor made the news feel personal for fans who have watched Cavill balance blockbuster roles like Superman and Geralt of Rivia while still chasing the right adaptation that honors the mythos.

As for the timeline, even before Cavill’s injury, production turnover or delays were plausible given the recent studio switch and the big-picture ambition for Highlander. With a projected shoot that plausibly would have wrapped in late 2025 or early 2026, an injury adds fuel to the fire of speculation about a shift into 2026, underscoring how fragile big-budget schedules can be when a lead is sidelined. No public statements have been issued yet by Cavill’s representatives or Amazon MGM Studios, which is typical in the early days of an on-set injury, especially when the exact nature of the injury remains undisclosed and the studio wants to avoid a flood of speculation.

So what does this mean for the fandom and the box office calculus? It means patience, thoughtful PR, and a staggered schedule that could give the remake room to mature without forcing a rushed turnaround. It could also affect the arrangement with the rest of the cast who were announced as part of this ambitious refresh, potentially nudging other elements of production into a new cadence. Highlander has a built-in appetite from both longtime fans and a newer audience hungry for an elevated fantasy-sword epic. The question remains: can this reboot honor the legacy while still delivering the modern blockbuster energy audiences expect?

If you’re keeping score, the bigger story isn’t just the injury. It’s how a beloved franchise, reimagined for a new era, is navigating the realities of modern studio logistics, star health, and the delicate balance between reverence and reinvention. What will the production do now to stay on track? Will the 2026 target hold, or will there be a further delay as Cavill recovers and the script and schedule get re-tuned? The industry will be watching closely, and fans will be bracing for updates that could redefine Highlander’s road to the screen.

What happens next could hinge on Cavill’s recovery, the studio’s contingency planning, and Stahelski’s evolving blueprint for a Highlander that finally feels fresh without erasing the past. Stay tuned—the sword is still out, and the next update could carve a new course for this immortal tale.

Sources: Celebrity Storm and Deadline
New York Post
Attribution: File:Freya Allan, Henry Cavill & Anya Chalotra (48418066562).jpg — Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America (CC BY-SA 2.0) (OV)