But SHOULD!

I’m posting this because I know, for a fact, that Davis-Panzer would never steal these ideas from me even if they could use them to save the franchise these men are trying to squeeze blood from. Lets face it, the biggest problem with Hollywood is the constant need to do things their way thinking they know what people want. The reality is that there are people, like me, ready to offer ideas and advice but Hollywood would never listen because someone like me doesn’t have 1 blockbuster hit and a string of dead and forgotten movies *cough*MarkStevenJohnson*couh*

Now, you might not be up to date on this so I’ll give you a quick back-story; The makers of “Highlander” are in the works for doing a “Highlander”-remake. That’s right, they are going back to remake a movie that shouldn’t have even had a sequel. But let’s put aside the fact that Hollywood has run out of ideas to the point of making movies that were already remade, again, and just look at the project as something we want to see succeed. Honestly I think we will find that it could be if they embraced a few changes.  But it won’t be, and that’s because they will never do any of the following, even though they should:

1. Don’t Call it Highlaner:
Now, I understand that the hope is people who are fans of the original will want to see a remake so they will want to capitalize on something people recognize. But I assure you, this will be the first nail in the coffin of the Highlander franchise. First off, no one who’s a Highlander fan will appreciate their entire mythos being reworked… again. All that’s going to happen is alienation of the old fans, and hopes to recreate new ones. A plan that would only work when all us old fans are dead, so we can’t go around saying how much the remake sucks. Besides, the problem with the “Highlander” franchise is the name itself. The movie is about a Highlander who happens to be Immortal. You can’t have “Highlander” without a Highlander so you’ve already painted yourself in a corner. Connor MacLeod is the Highlander and Duncan was a Highlander but moving away from the MacLeod line gives you some maneuvering room with the franchise.

So what to call it then?

“Watcher Chronicles”, “Immortals”, “Sword of the Immortal” or anything that would draw someone’s attention but allowing you to have the choice to do something else. I like “Watcher Chronicles: the Highlander” or something similar. It puts you, the viewer, in the role of the Watcher (observer and record but never interfere) and you could have a sequel called “Watcher Chronicles: the Egyptian” and so on and so on. An entire series that doesn’t even have to be a continuation of a storyline and doesn’t have to follow the same characters/actors around all the time – what a concept!
They’ll never do it.

2. Stay away form the original cast/characters: 
With the exception of one, which we will cover in a moment the original characters and cast should be wiped from the record. Don’t even mention Amanda or Duncan and don’t even give Adrian Paul so much as a Cameo. If you must bring in a Kurgan or Highlander to make the connection, then do so. I don’t see a problem with Connor, but certainly not the Connor MacLeod knock-off called Duncan. I don’t want to hear about Juan Sanchez Villa Lobos Ramierz or see a dragon head katana as all of those things should be left to the true fans, like little keepsakes from our past. Since Hollywood is obsessed with formula they will probably turn to old character or actors with big name draws.

But it’s the characters that pull us in, and the Connor MacLeod of the 1980′s isn’t interesting to the audiences of today. Duncan MacLeod has become so Gary Stu he simply isn’t flawed enough to be of interest, and Amanda isn’t strong enough to be as sexy as she was 10 years ago. But Hollywood seems to think they can capitalize on the popularity of characters from the past by exposing them to new pople. But that’s like some 47 year old man getting hair plugs, working out and throwing on his high school letter-man jacket and thinking he can score with 18 year old cheerleaders again… Unless you Al Bundy, good luck with that.

3. Focus the Movie on Methos instead of Connor/Duncan:
Yeah, this one probably comes out of left field, considering I just said “avoid the originals” I know. But I think the best bet is to intentionally break that rule and give Peter Wingfield whatever he wants to be the star of the movie and reprise his role as Methos. Methos was, by far, the most interesting character in the entire Highlander universe. The writers and producers struck gold when the came up with the character, and hit the lottery when they hired Peter to play the part. Methos/Peter would pull in all the fans to show, who you want in the first place. There is an entire fan base of people who would love Davis-Panzer forever, for saying they were bring Peter back as Methos to be the star of his own movie.

And, honestly, who wouldn’t want to see a Methos movie? A movie about a 5,000 year old immortal, former member of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse is interesting enough on it’s own. And you can still pull to the appeal of fans from the series who remember that some of the best lines in the series were delivered by Methos like “[I am] a man born before the age of chivalry.” And who can forget the the “I was death…” speech?

Methos would bring back all the people who used to watch the original series and it would properly expose a new group to a very popular kind of character. The cash cow has never been Adrian Paul, and that’s where the producers have been making the mistake from day one. A Classic Heroic type like Duncan MacLeod is as antiquated as he is unpopular. People want Jack Sparrow, Captain Kirk and Wolverine who all fly in the face of a knight in shining armor type. They are flawed, self absorbed, and only do the right thing because it also happens to benefit them too. They are the kind of character women seem to love and men wish they could be. The next, closest thing, is Fitzcairn but only Rodger Daltry is alowed to play him and I think Peter has a look that’s more univerally appealing.

People would love it, but then you have to…

4. Kill Methos:
Yes, I said he should then be killed off and I know many would not agree with this idea of bring back Methos and forming an entire movie around him only to have the character die. But you need to end the connection to the show, and Peter cannot play that character forever but you want the franchise to go on forever. So you also need Methos’ death to hurt, to mean something. You need people to know that “there can be only one” and question who it could be in the following movies. You also need to sever that final tie to the original series once and for all. Up to this point, every movie has tried to be an extension of the show or some attempt to capitalize on it’s popularity. Killing Methos will be “letting go” of that and with his death you can finally move on to bigger and better things.

And when Methos is killed, it can’t be done by an Immortal. No one should be allowed to benefit from Methos’ death, so a Hunter should take him down on Holy Ground like the way Darius died. Maybe Methos sacrifices himself for once, and puts his own life aside for someone else, someone like Alexa who he could love and not live without. Since she would one day die, he knows that he would one day have no reason to live. It would be poetic and it would be a great way to return Methos’ “humanity” in the end. It’s the kind of story that would appeal to people now because I think our audiences are finally ready to look at the pain of loss and the cost of love… “Who wants to live forever, when love must die…” ~Queen

So that’s the formula:
From here it doesn’t matter if it’s Conner, Duncan or Fitzcairn that’s remade from the ground up. Hell, get an all new Duncan MacLeod played by Gerard Butler for all I care. I think he’d be great to be honest and I’m sure there are many women who’d agree. But make him a more hollow and heart broken Duncan who has never been allowed to find a one true love, he probably fights drunk and pushes people away because he’s strong on the outside but always hurting inside. Or do an entire movie around Kenny, they 10 year old Immortal (but kill him off please) who’s been around for 1,000 years conning people. He’d be a great villain if you ask me. It’s like “The Omen” if Damien were an expert with a short sword.

There’s so much that could be done but, as I said, the Producers focus on one word “Highalander” and that forces us to focus on one character. It’s not a bad concept, Immortals who are born fighting to the death until only one remains is briliant but the execution past the first movie has been lacking. In fact, that seems to be the biggest problem Hollywood has the days. There are good ideas out there, but someone always drops the ball.

I hope, and pray, that the day will come when I have to eat the following words (but I doubt that will happen):
I tried to save the Highlander franchise… but as Methos once said “I’m just a guy.”