The wicker tree first trailer

[biggytitbo]

http://io9.com/5636915/new-wicker-man-sequel-will-help-you-forget-nic-cages-infamous-bee+gargle

Well, it looks quite promising so far...

[Jemble Fred]

Doesn't give much away, does it? I'm tentatively predicting that it turns out to be a low-key, rather enjoyable flop.

[Cerys]

Is it going to have Christopher Lee in drag?  Because if not I'll be all disappointed.

[Jemble Fred]

It's also got a naked Honeysuckle Weeks in it? Triple sweet.

And, judging from that photo of Christopher Lee in the Cast & Crew section of the official site, I'm betting on that being Lord Summerisle.

http://thewickertreemovie.com/webroot/v2/wp-content/themes/sandbox/trailer.php

[Cerys]

IMDb credits him as 'Old Man'.

[Santa's Boyfriend]

I really hope there's a cameo of Nic Cage flagellating himself in the background.

[Custard]

No shots of the punching of old women? Gah, not interested.

[Jake Thingray]

No AUBREY? No good as far as I'm concerned then.

[Jemble Fred]

http://www.joblo.com/video/player.php?video=wicker-tree-new

Well you can't deny the shiver of excitement the first five seconds of that gave me... My hopes are still high, but you have to factor in the loss of Shaffer, no other writer will be able to do what he did with The Wicker Man. Still, it looks leagues ahead of Cage's unintended comedy.

[Santa's Boyfriend]

I guess the problem this project faces is how much of a remake it is, and how much of an original story.  The trailer implies that this may well be at least partially a retreat of the original film, for which it could almost certainly only be inferior to.  I really hope this is a completely different kind of story.

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

It's an adaptation of this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cowboys_for_Christ so it's not exactly a remake of the original film.

[biggytitbo]

That looks pretty rude! Even if the plot is entirely different, which it doesnt seem to be, its clearly trying to recapture the magic of the riginal film. Sadly, it looks to me as if Christopher Lee is only a cameo in this.

[Jemble Fred]

IMDb credits him as 'Old Man'.

Dammit though, that does look like it could be a very old Lord S. Maybe it will be left open for geeks like me? Although I did always favour the theory that he was next in the Wicker Man when the crops failed again...

[The Widow of Brid]

It's an adaptation of this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cowboys_for_Christ so it's not exactly a remake of the original film.

That book was a bit jizz, sadly.

Spoiler alert

One dimensional characters, shitty 'scientific' explanations for things, and it had actual, unambiguous, magic in it.

[close]

I really want this to be a good film.

[Glebe]

Sadly, it looks to me as if Christopher Lee is only a cameo in this.

Yes, apparently he was asked to appear so as to drum up some publicity for it.

[Jemble Fred]

Well he was always supposed to be one of the main characters in it, but that was established many many years ago, and he's just become too old in the meantime. That's how long this film has taken – but he was always very closely involved with the film, so there was no last-minute request to drum up publicity. A cameo was seemingly the only way to get him in thre somehow, after all his loyalty to the project.

[ColonelVolestrangler]

Lee was definitely supposed to be playing Graham McTavish's role - which, in the book, is very much a variation on Lord Summerisle, given to singing a fair bit to indulge Lee's love of singing -  until a back injury ruled him out. The old man role, not in the book, may or may not be who folk think he is. Between the writer/director, Hardy, and Lee, one of them says he is Lord summerisle, the other one says he definitely isn't (but that one also claims he hasn't been in a horror film since the early 70s).

The book started out quite well, before veering off track. Unlike 'The Wicker Man', which gave a brilliant back story as to why the pagans were there on the island, there was no reason at all given for the cult to be there.