‘Dune’ and ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ star Dave Bautista is nearing deals to appear in two high-profile projects for Amazon MGM Studios: Chad Stahelski’s reboot of ‘Highlander’ and the sequel ‘Road House 2,’ both backed by United Artists.

Bautista is set to co-star with Henry Cavill in Stahelski’s modern take on the iconic 1980s sword-fighting epic. He’s expected to portray The Kurgan, the notorious antagonist originally played by Clancy Brown in the classic film starring Sean Connery and Christopher Lambert.

The Kurgan is an Immortal and a ruthless contender for "The Prize" — the ultimate power among Immortals. Known for his brutal nature, the character has a dark history of violence, including the slaying of other Immortals. In the original film, he served as the archenemy of Lambert’s character, Connor MacLeod.

In ‘Road House 2,’ Bautista will star opposite Jake Gyllenhaal, who returns as ex-UFC fighter Dalton. The sequel is based on a script by Will Beall, and is being produced by Charles Roven and Alex Gartner of Atlas Entertainment, along with Gyllenhaal’s Nine Stories Productions. Josh McLaughlin serves as executive producer. As previously reported, Guy Ritchie has exited as director, with ‘Nobody’ filmmaker Ilya Naishuller stepping in.

The first ‘Road House’ film premiered last year on Prime Video and quickly became one of the platform’s most-watched titles, drawing 80 million viewers globally within eight weeks.

The ‘Highlander’ reboot is being produced by UA’s Scott Stuber and Nick Nesbitt, alongside Neal H. Moritz and Stahelski’s 87Eleven Entertainment. United Artists has secured full rights to the ‘Highlander’ franchise from Lionsgate, with an eye toward possibly developing a new series as well.

Originally released in 1986, ‘Highlander’ told the story of a centuries-old conflict among immortal warriors, unfolding across both historical and contemporary timelines. Directed by Russell Mulcahy and produced by Peter S. Davis and William N. Panzer, the film became a cult favorite and spawned sequels and a successful television series. Patrick Wachsberger is also on board as executive producer for the reboot.

Bautista recently made a cameo appearance in Paramount’s ‘Naked Gun’ reboot alongside Liam Neeson. In June, it was reported that Paramount acquired ‘The Romantic,’ a romantic comedy spec from Deborah Kaplan and Harry Elfont, with Bautista attached to star.

Bautista is keeping busy with multiple upcoming projects. He’s set to lead Aura Entertainment’s action film ‘Trap House,’ and will co-star with Jason Momoa in Amazon MGM’s buddy cop comedy ‘The Wrecking Crew,’ both produced under his Dogbone Entertainment banner.

He also starred in Gia Coppola’s critically acclaimed ‘The Last Showgirl,’ featuring Pamela Anderson, and will appear in the Zellner Brothers’ upcoming alien invasion comedy ‘Alpha Gang.’

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