With the Highlander reboot back on track with a new director, it was only a matter of time before new casting rumors began to emerge. Now that process has begun, and the production seems to be aiming very high with their first targeted actor: the legendary Tom Cruise.
While there aren't any actual negotiations going on just yet, The Wrap is reporting that Highlander has taken an interest in Tom Cruise to play the mentor role played by Sean Connery in the original. Insiders have pegged the actor as Summit's top choice for the part, and even have noted that the character's role would even possibly be expanded just to fully take advantage of Cruise's star power. The idea would be that Cruise would be teamed up with a younger actor playing Connor MacLeod, the immortal Highlander looking for revenge against a barbarian known as The Kurgan.
Before you get either too excited or too depressed about this news (I'm sure this would be pretty divisive casting), it should be noted that this idea is far from a done deal. For right now, all of the interest currently resides with Summit Entertainment, as Tom Cruise is currently hard at work filming Mission: Impossible 5. A representative for the Oscar-nominee noted that the actor has been approached about Highlander, but added that it is just "one of many projects that come to him and he discusses."
If we can play around in hypotheticals a bit, the idea of Tom Cruise joining Highlander in the Juan Ramirez role would definitely be an interesting step for him. It's true that we've seen him step into supporting roles many times before - from Magnolia to Collateral - but as far as I can remember this will be the first time that he's ever been in the 'mentor' position. The actor is certainly still one of the biggest stars in the world - and the continuation of the Mission: Impossible franchise proves that - but it is interesting that he will eventually have to shift to playing different kind of parts as he gets older.
Cedric Nicolas-Troyan, best known for his work as a special effects supervisor and second unit director, is making his feature directorial debut with Highlander, and is using a script written by Art Marcum & Matt Holloway (Iron Man) as well as Melissa Rosenberg (Twilight). The project doesn't currently have a release date, but if production is being eyed to start next year, it's possible that we could see the reboot in theaters as early as 2016. Do you think Tom Cruise would be a good fit as the new Juan Ramirez? Who do you think could replace Christopher Lambert as Connor MacLeod? Hit the comments below with your thoughts
