Highlander: The Source

⁽²⁰⁰⁷⁾

1h 26m

Action, Adventure, Drama, Fantasy, Mystery, Science Fiction

February 6th, 2007

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Highlander: The Source Trivia

Trivia

While the project was still at Miramax, Peter Briggs wrote a version of the script. Before doing so, he rewatched every "Highlander" movie and the TV series, then researched what fans wanted in a sequel by joining the official Highlander message boards (www.highlander-community.com). He kept his identity private, though people knew he was an insider on the project. He quickly became one of the board’s most popular and respected members, and stayed that way even after he was removed from the project. He disclosed who he was well after being kicked off. The death of a close friend on the forum, named Eric, prompted Briggs to finally reveal himself.
Russell Mulcahy was attached to direct early in the film’s development. He and Peter S. Davis and William N. Panzer disagreed over the story’s direction: Mulcahy wanted a prequel about the first-ever generation of immortals, thousands of years before the original Highlander (1986), with Adrian Paul appearing as Duncan MacLeod only in a framing story. Panzer and Davis, however, wanted to continue Highlander: Endgame (2000) and feature Duncan throughout the film. Mulcahy eventually left the production, believing a repeat of the events that led to the critical and commercial failure of Highlander II: The Quickening (1991) was about to occur.
In Joel Soisson’s script, Duncan MacLeod lived at a gas station in the desert beside a run-down airplane. The script also had MacLeod smoking and wearing cowboy boots and a hat, and owning a pet monkey named Connor.
After the producers questioned whether Stephen Kelvin Watkins’ original script would work, they brought in David Abramowitz to revise it. Abramowitz substantially overhauled the script to better align it with earlier Highlander mythos. The producers later reversed course, largely restoring Watkins’ original script and retaining only a few of Abramowitz’s changes. Although Abramowitz was credited as a co-writer in the film’s initial leaked cut, he disliked the result so much that he removed his name from the final version.
Adrian Paul initially declined to reprise Duncan in the film because he was extremely disappointed with Highlander: Endgame (2000), and thought the series was not worth continuing. The producers then approached Christopher Lambert to reprise Connor MacLeod, but dropped him after he demanded a lot of money. Eventually, they persuaded Paul to return to the role.
The last installment in the Highlander series.
The film was meant to launch a new trilogy, but those plans were abandoned after "The Source" performed poorly both critically and commercially.
Dimension Pictures first planned to shoot the movie in Africa, and several early drafts explicitly take place there. Production ultimately filmed in Lithuania around Vilnius.
This was the first live-action "Highlander" movie that was not released in theaters. It premiered on the Sci-Fi Channel in September of 2007 and came out on DVD in February of 2008.
This was the first live-action "Highlander" movie whose villain’s name did not start with K. The villains in Highlander (1986), Highlander II: The Quickening (1991), Highlander: The Final Dimension (1994), and Highlander: Endgame (2000) were named Kurgan, Katana, Kane, and Kell, respectively. The animated Highlander: The Search for Vengeance (2007) also had a villain whose name did not start with K, but it was produced after "Highlander: The Source," despite being released first.
Filming took place over three months, from October to December in 2005, with a release planned for 2006.
Adrian Paul later said he was disappointed with the film. He had read and appreciated the David Abramowitz script and thought it would be the one they filmed, but discovered during shooting that they were using a heavily rewritten script that barely resembled the original draft.
Kate was supposed to return in this film, but Barbuscia turned down the role, leading to the creation of the character Anna.
An early cut of Highlander: The Source came out on DVD in Russia in February 2007.
The original screenplay was intended to launch a trilogy, but rewrites turned it into a standalone film. Adrian Paul said the original script "wasn't up to par to begin with" and that it was not fixed, but instead ruined through rewrites.
The first Highlander movie without Christopher Lambert as Connor MacLeod.

Spoilers

In the original version of the extended ending, Anna tells Duncan she is pregnant, and he helps her raise their son in the Highlands of Scotland. They name the boy after Connor MacLeod.
William N. Panzer wanted The Source to come from the planet Zeist, which would have linked the film to Highlander II: The Quickening (1991), but the idea was rejected.
Although "Highlander: The Source" performed poorly with critics and fans, it was intended as the final chapter, ending with Duncan finally winning The Prize and Anna revealing that she is pregnant with their baby. In "Highlander" mythology, immortals cannot have children with mortals.
The first and only Highlander motion picture whose final battle does not take place in an industrial area.
The first and, so far, only "Highlander" film where the antagonist is not defeated by decapitation and there is no final Quickening.

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