It was recently announced that an extended cut of the 1973 horror cult classic would be released to theaters and on Blu-ray/DVD in the UK, with a limited theatrical run in the US starting later this month. If you'd like a look a the newly restored version, we have a brand new trailer from StudioCanal.
Due to the fact that the movie originally screened as part of a double bill, the version that appeared in theaters was shorter than Hardy’s actual cut. While the extended footage has been seen in the past on DVD, the original negatives were lost and the quality wasn't the same. Here are more details on the discovery:
"Butchered by its doomed UK distributor to fit on double bills, with its original camera negative apparently lost, THE WICKER MAN has gathered a devoted fan base over the past four decades, with the complete version their Holy Grail. Some missing scenes were recovered from an obsolete one-inch broadcast tape, but over the years there were rumors of complete 35mm prints floating around.
Earlier this year, the search intensified when worldwide rights holder Studiocanal initiated a Facebook campaign to recover the missing 35mm material, resulting in the discovery of a 92-minute 35 mm release print at the Harvard Film Archive. This print was scanned and sent to London, where it was recently inspected by director Robin Hardy, who confirmed that it was the same cut he had put together for its American distributor in 1979. This culminated in a digital restoration of the complete U.S. theatrical version, which director Hardy recently anointed as 'the final cut.'"
The Wicker Man: The Final Cut will be released in UK theaters on September 27 with a UK Blu-ray and DVD release planned for October 14th. The Wicker Man Blu-ray will be a three disc set, according to Blu-ray.com, with the first disc including ”The Final Cut” (HD), the UK theatrical Cut (HD) & the Director’s Cut (HD but with seamless branching to extra scenes in SD only) & audio commentary for Director’s Cut. The second disc is said to include supplemental features, but they have not yet been detailed. Disc 3 will contain the movie soundtrack.
Rialto Pictures is handling the US release and announced the following dates:
"After receiving an anonymous letter about a missing 12-year-old girl, devoutly Christian cop Edward Woodward travels by seaplane to a remote Scottish island to investigate. But the islanders welcome neither his badge nor religious devotion, for laird of the isle Christopher Lee and his devoted followers worship only the pagan gods of old - and those gods demand a sacrifice. Woodward fears for the missing girl's life and follows every possible lead to find her - despite the islanders' interference - before she becomes a human sacrificial lamb.
Starring Edward Woodward (Breaker Morant, TV 's The Equalizer), horror film legend Christopher Lee, stalwart Hammer vampiress Ingrid Pitt, and Swedish blonde bombshell/Bond Girl Britt Ekland (Man With The Golden Gun, After The Fox, Get Carter), WICKER MAN is a quintessential 70s thriller, with the search for its integral version one of cinema history's great detective hunts."
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