We can already hear the screams from Twilight haters (and Higlander fans), but Melissa Rosenberg, the screenwriter behind the ridiculously successful vampire franchise, has been hired by Summit to script their planner reboot of Highlander.
Art Marcum and Matt Holloway turned in a first draft of the screenplay, with Cormac Wibberley and Marianne Sellek Wibberley doing some work on it, but now Rosenberg will take over. While this news is bound to make people wonder whether Summit is trying to turn Higlander into a teen romance, it’s probably not time to start worrying yet.
The Twilight movies have done a decent job of balancing action and romance, and part of the original Highlander was Connor MacLeod’s pain at watching his true love age while he didn’t. Rosenberg was also a writer/exec producer on Dexter before taking on vampires, suggesting she has a darker side than Twilight might have suggested.
Justin Lin (Fast & Furious) is still attached to direct.
The movie will be an update, with Summit previously saying they wanted to expand on the core mythology of immortals battling amongst us, hunting each other through the ages. The original centered on a Scottish swordsman, who discovers he is part of a secret race of near-immortal beings and faces off against an unstoppable barbarian who covets the power gained from there being only one of their kind left. (Source: THR)