If you had to pick one guy to kick off the Highlander remake, would it be director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo or Ryan Reynolds?
Exactly. However, according to Deadline Hollywood, it’s Fresnadillo that has left the production due to creative differences with Summit. He helped develop the project for a year, but never saw the picture the same way the studio did – which marks a bit of a pattern for the filmmaker who also detached himself from Bioshock and The Crow (which he left to direct Highlander).
Also like that production, it has a leading man who is stunningly wrong for the role. Reynolds is a charming, funny actor, but he’s not the guy you get to play Duncan MacLeod; he’s the guy you get to play Duncan MacLeod for your MTV Movie Awards spoof intro.
At any rate, the loss of Fresnadillo puts the project back into the air, and it’ll be fascinating to see if Summit continues to stick with it, and if they do, what director they’ll ultimately land on. No matter who it is, Reynolds playing the lead is going to feel like putting on a wet bathing suit for a lot of fans, and if Summit decides not to (or can’t) re-cast, they’re going to be shooting themselves in the foot even before the starter gun goes off. That’s not to say that Fresnadillo was the absolute best choice for the potential franchise launch, but Reynolds is still clearly, obviously, gut-reaction-level wrong for this one. It’s unfortunate that the wrong man just left the project.