Wicker Man Trilogy Finally Complete

Robin Hardy had always had a plan in his head, to turn his infamous rural horror, The Wickerman (1973) into a twisted triology of horrors. And now... thnaks to his sons, that dream has finally fomred into a horrendous vision of crazed locals and angry gods, with the upcoming release of Wrath of the Gods (2026).

Hardy's follow up to fan favorite The Wicker Man spent years in production hell.

First announced in the late 1990s under alternative titles like The Riding of the Laddie, in which he had Christopher Lee and Sean Astin lined up to star. However, rewrites, and production false starts collapsed the project. When the film was finally on it's legs, another tragedy caused a massive recast. Christopher Lee was originally cast as the lead villain, Sir Lachlan Morrison, in The Wicker Tree, but he suffered a back injury while filming The Resident in New Mexico and could not handle the physical demands of the role. He was replaced by Graham McTavish, though Lee still managed a brief, separate cameo, appearing in a flash back as Sir Lachlan mentor.

The Wicker Tree finally released in 2011 much to critical hate. Many felt that the film had recycled the core narrative beats of the original film, innocent outsiders lured to a quirky Scottish village for pagan rituals, without adding fresh tension or mystery. This beating by the critics did not dissuade Hardy, who still had  a firm dream of a trilogy. Hardy spoke with ScreenDaily ahead of a 40th anniversary re-release of The Wicker Man where he said:

The first two films are all (about) offers to the Gods. The third film is about the Gods.

Sadley Hardy passed away in 2016, leaving the final film in limbo. But this is (obviously) not the end of the story. Now his sons, Justin and Dominic, have been able to complete their father's horror trilogy, after discovering a script for the final film. Acording to Dominic, his brothers old home held some secrets.

The person who bought Justin's old family home said they'd discovered six sacks of letters, scripts and other material pertaining to Robin Hardy and The Wicker Man in the attic...

Justin's first instinct was to burn them, but we couldn't ignore this original source material. Although we left it unopened for six months or more.

The original film was hit with many hurdles, and the film bankrupted the director, and he abandoned Justin's mother Caroline, leaving her with all his debts. Critics mostly ignored the film , but Christopher Lee had always claimed that the film was his favorite role, and The Wickerman has become a firm favorite with horror mfans, thanks to it's building dread and terrorfying ending. Justin and Dominic obviously had a very difficult relatioinhsip with thier farther, and they wrote a book called Children Of The Wicker Man, which tells of how the film destroyed thier family. 

Despite the animosity towards the film, the brothers decided to tackle thier farthers legacy and complete the trilogy. The new film was shot in the Shetland islands, and used many locals for the films cast, with Francis Magee, and Norwegian actress Christiane Schaldemose taking the lead roles. The film's premier on Friday, at horror festival FrightFest in London, was overshadowed by the sudden death of Justin Hardy last month. 

Wrath of The Gods completes Robin Hardy's Wicker trilogy and is dedicated to Justin's mother Caroline, though the film, and the trilogy, marks a dark page in the family history. 

The film is set to be released in cinemas August 28th.