I suppose this is no more absurd than Sean Connery playing an ancient Egyptian in mid-1500's Spanish garb.
Cedric Nicolas-Troyan's HIGHLANDER reboot is coming together at Summit, and we have an idea of who they want to fill the shoes of Sean Connery's Juan Sanchez Villa-Lobos Ramirez: Tom freakin' Cruise.
There's no word as to how badly Cruise wants to take up Connery's blade: talks haven't even begun with the actor, reportedly diving headfirst, once again, into MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE 5. However, it would seem that he's Nicolas-Troyan and Summit's first choice for the role, and that they're taking the idea of landing him for this project seriously.
Cruise has shown a willingness to appear in supporting roles in recent years, and has made big impressions with not much screentime in films both good (TROPIC THUNDER) and execrable (ROCK OF AGES). If he decides to train whatever unknown they dig up to play the new HIGHLANDER (I have no doubt that Cruise would be, like Connery, the biggest star in the film by a wiiiiide margin), I'd imagine Cruise would chew scenery and dispense sage wisdom with the same aplomb his predecessor did back in '86 (bit of trivia: apparently, Connery and Christopher Lambert's onset relationship was so tight that it was the latter who insisted the former get a massive paycheck to reappear in the sequel). We saw Cruise wield a katana well enough in THE LAST SAMURAI, and we've seen him lecture on the ways of immortality in INTERVIEW WITH A VAMPIRE, so really, Cruise in this role is not all that ridiculous when you think about it. In fact, I could see him kicking ass, slicing heads and taking names in the role.
The real question is, will he take it. And if so, who will they find to take his head as the immortal Kurgan??
