WICKER DUO ON MAY DAY
Adding fuel to a dying fire, writer/director Robin Hardy has provided another update on his next Christopher Lee collaboration The Riding of the Laddie – a film similar in theme to the duos disturbing pagan freakshow The Wicker Man but is in no way a sequel or prequel to the 1973 classic.
Hardys been toying around with the idea of Laddie since Anchor Bays release of The Wicker Man sparked renewed interest in the property in 2001. Over time he eventually completed the script and attracted stars Sean Astin, Lee, and Vanessa Redgrave but finding funds to launch the film was an uphill battle.
Dropping The Riding of the Laddie as a title (smart decision), Hardys film is now called May Day – a moniker alluding to the festive pagan holiday that marked the passing of spring into summer. The plot of Day still remains the same: a young religious couple traveling through Scotland happens upon a pagan revival in a remote location of the countryside. Lord of the Rings Sean Astin will play a man of the cloth faced with old ideals practiced by Lees antagonist – a role that bears a striking similarity to his part as Lord Summerisle in The Wicker Man.
Shooting is now scheduled to begin in 2004 with Hardys own Eurocentre Productions and British Lion backing most of the project. The director recently approached the film agency Scottish Green to lend a little financial aid to this 11 million production (thats $17.6 million in U.S. funds).
Meanwhile, on U.S shores, Neil Labute continues to whittle away at his full-on remake of The Wicker Man for Universal studios. That film will star Nicholas Cage – whenever the man frees up his busy schedule.
Courtesy of Creature Corner
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