Info in Movie News | Michael Caine appears ready to step back into the spotlight. The 92-year-old screen legend, who previously announced his retirement in 2023, is now circling a comeback role in Lionsgate’s sequel to The Last Witch Hunter. He would reunite with his longtime friend Vin Diesel, who will once again lead the movie as Kaulder, the immortal witch hunter.
According to Variety, the project is moving forward quickly with Lionsgate and Diesel’s production company, One Race movies, steering development. Despite the fact that the agreement with Caine is not done yet, the two-time Academy Award winner is reportedly going back to be with Father Dolan, a character who explained and documented Kaulder’s fight against evil over the ages, a role he once acted, according to a source.
Caine was the lead character whose life after the defeat of the Witch Queen was cursed but he had to continue the fight against the evil one while trying keep the peace between the humans and witches in today’s New York City. The Dolan character, portrayed by Caine, served as Kaulder’s advisor and closest ally within The Axe and Cross, a secretive order tasked with monitoring witch activity.
Despite receiving somewhat mediocre reviews from critics, The Last Witch Hunter was able to attract an audience all over the world. The movie grossed only $27 million in the US, but it managed to make $119 million internationally. The total of the global box office was roughly $147 million. The earnings did not dazzle much considering the production estimated to be between $71 and $90 million. However, over time, the movie was once again successful with the popularization of streaming and home entertainment. 2025 After a year the movie got rebirth as one of the most-watched movies on Netflix worldwide, which ignited the fans' revival.
Adam Fogelson, the head of Lionsgate’s Motion Picture Group, mentioned the astonishing way the film has survived over time much beyond what they had anticipated. He described The Last Witch Hunter's growth of an international fan base after its first release, saying that people have been watching it on different platforms during the last ten years. As per Fogelson, that continual passion for the film is a very strong indication that fans want more stories from the same world, which essentially, is the reason why the company is going on with a follow-up.
Vin Diesel is no stranger to movies based on his Dungeons and Dragons games. He has mentioned several times that his character in The Last Witch Hunter draws a lot from his role-playing game experiences where he was once a witch hunter called Melkor. Working on the same project with such passion has always been his second nature, as he is used to handling different big-hit-movie series.
The return of Michael Caine to the cast is one more reason for the fans to be excited. Caine had publicly declared that The Great Escaper (2023) would be his final movie, citing a desire to leave on a high note after glowing reviews for his portrayal of a World War II veteran. He informed BBC Radio 4, “I’ve figured, I’ve had a picture where I’ve played the lead and it’s got incredible reviews. What have I got to do to beat this?”
Still, his bond with Diesel has remained strong. In his memoir Don’t Look Back, You’ll Trip Over, Caine recalled meeting Diesel at a dinner party 30 years ago and instantly connecting with him. “I just instinctively greeted him with a hug and announced to the whole room, ‘This is my son!’” Caine wrote. These two have been good friends ever since, a personal relationship that may have played a role in his decision to come back.
With the sequel, Lionsgate is aiming to expand its selection of IP with the potential of long-term success. Indeed, fantasy-action franchises have proven to be a reliable source of income not only from theatrical releases but also through streaming and foreign markets even if the first installment has modest box office results. What the studio is doing is betting that the mixing of cutting-edge production tech with the concept of a more substantial, more significant sequel will allow them to maintain the costs at a fair level.
Currently, there is absolutely no information about the director, not even a hint, and Lionsgate has been very secretive about when the shooting or the release of the movie will take place. Besides that, Vin Diesel is getting ready for Fast X: Part 2, a movie scheduled for 2027, and that is probably going to have an impact on the The Last Witch Hunter 2 timeline. Nevertheless, the excitement for the project is still alive, and the studio as well as the stars are willing to make the most of it.
In case things go as planned and the sequel arrives, not only it will be a continuation of a cult fantasy saga but also it will be a big-screen comeback for one of the UK's most popular actors. The fans would get to see Diesel’s Kaulder once again as he joins forces with Caine’s Dolan to track down witches, a scene that would both evoke memories of the past and give them a taste of the new dark, mystical world that awaits them.
source Variety, Entertainment Weekly, Deadline
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