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The biggest news to emerge from a recent Empire web chat with Nicolas Cage is that Cage has not given up on The Wicker Man. The actor starred in Neil LaBute’s 2006 remake of Robin Hardy’s classic 1973 horror film, and the result was an endlessly rewarding misfire, earning the film cult status and generating wildly popular Internet memes.
The Wicker Man (2006) Trailer:
Cage seems keen to recapture the magic, saying, “I would like to hook up with one of the great Japanese filmmakers, like the master that made Ringu, and I would like to take The Wicker Man to Japan, except this time he’s a ghost.”
While we wait for the Ghost Rider’s Japanese ghost story, there are other Wicker Man developments to pass the time. First is Hardy’s The Wicker Tree, a follow-up to his 1973 film. The update opened to almost uniformly negative reviews in its limited theatrical run but will debut on DVD and Blu-ray in the spring.
The Wicker Tree (2012) Trailer:
Much more promising is the National Theatre of Scotland’s well-reviewed An Appointment with The Wicker Man, a new play written by Greg Hemphill and Donald McLeary and directed by Vicky Featherstone. Based on the original film (and its screenplay by Anthony Shaffer), An Appointment with The Wicker Man features “amateur theatre company the Loch Parry Players ... rehearsing a stage version of The Wicker Man.” The simple premise twists when the leading man disappears, and a “cop” comes from the mainland to fill in. From there, the play’s parallels to the film pile up in parodic fashion.
An Appointment with The Wicker Man - Meet the Writers:
Performances run from February 28 to March 3 at Theatre Royal, Glasgow, from March 6 to March 10 at Eden Court, Inverness, and from March 21 to March 24 at Alhambra Theatre, Dunfermline.
