Major news this week for fans of director Robin Hardy's amazing 1973 film The Wicker Man: after years of searching, the original 35mm print, which was believed to be lost forever, has been discovered at last – and just in time for the film's 40th Anniversary.
Studio Canal picked up the rights to the cult classic back in 2001, and they've been on a seemingly impossible quest ever since to find a film print of Hardy's original cut, which has never been released to theaters or video in this form. The only way fans have been able to see something close to Hardy's original vision has been through a composited cut for DVD, with several of the restored scenes sourced from videotape, since the original print was believed to have been destroyed by the film's distributor.
An announcement came yesterday from Hardy himself, on a Facebook page which Studio Canal set up to help in their search, that a 35mm print of the full version has been found:
Horror legend Christopher Lee has stated that The Wicker Man is his favorite of all of the films he's appeared in, and his role as Lord Summerisle is also one of his fans' most beloved. Hopefully news of a theatrical and Blu-ray release will come our way soon...
